Waiting
by kArEnElIzAbEth95
Summary: Charlotte McCallister was normal. Until her 18th birthday when she turns into a wolf in the middle of the night. No one knew except for her mother and father. And then SHIELD came into the picture.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I am not the owner of any of the characters in this story except for Charlie. She's a figment of my imagination and any resemblance to anyone is completely coincidental and non-intentional .**

I'm okay. Really, I am.

No, I'm not. I need help. No one can see past my smile or my jokes or my sarcastic attitude.

Is everyone really that quick to believe? Or is it just that no one knows me well enough to notice when something isn't right?

I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. Sometimes there was no helping it. And I can't blame it on people not taking the time to get to know me. It goes both ways. I have to open up. But who will stay? When they figure out that I'm not… _normal_.

I don't even know what's wrong with me. I'm not alone, though; I have Her. She's a part of me now.

I let out a breath and glanced at my reflection in the mirror. I stared at my one blue eye and one green eye. I was born with blue eyes, but when She came, so did the green eye. I was 18 when it happened. I woke up in the middle of the night on my 18th birthday. My whole body felt as if I was being pressed down on, and it got harder and harder to take in another gulp of air. My head was pounding and I could hear my heart beat speed up. I sat up in bed and bit my lip to stop from screaming. As soon as it had started, the pain stopped, but I didn't feel the same. I felt… heavier, yet lighter at the same time.

Then I heard Her voice. Of course, I freaked out. I blocked her out, did everything I could so I wouldn't hear her voice. But I started warming up to Her. My parents became wary of me the day they saw my eyes. Soon enough, She was all I had, all I could be myself with.

But I wasn't even sure She existed back then. I always figured She was a figment of my imagination and that I had gone insane.

Turns out, that wasn't the case.

It was about a month after my birthday, and I woke up in the middle of the night again. This time, I felt like I was being stretched out. There was a burning pain in my bones and it felt like every bone in my body was breaking.

I thought I was going to die.

The pain lasted forever, and I kept my eyes closed for the whole time. And when the pain stopped and I glanced over at the mirror, I started to think that I really had died.

Because when I looked into the mirror, I saw a wolf staring back at me.

But She told me what was going on. She was my Wolf. And I had transformed into Her form.

She explained that I had the power to change between the two forms whenever I wanted, and the pain would lessen the more I changed.

I didn't care back then, I was terrified, and I just wanted to change back.

She changed us back. The pain was unbearable, but in a couple of minutes, I was back to my two-legged self.

So, you see, it isn't all that hard to believe why I'm so alone.

If the world found out what I could do, I'd be locked up and experimented on.

I've had this ability for about six months now, and She forces me to transform every two weeks to condition my body and to get used to the feel. She tells me I'm special and that I should embrace my power.

Accalia. Her name is Accalia.

xxxxxxxxxxxx

"Charlotte, come down for breakfast!"

I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and sat up in bed.

"Charlie, come down!"

I sighed, "Coming, Mom! Give me a minute to get changed."

I tied my hair into a quick ponytail and threw the sheets off me, grabbing my bra off the chair by my desk.

'_I have a weird feeling about today, Accalia._' I said in my mind, as I changed into decent clothing.

'_I, too, feel the same._' Came her reply, '_We must take great care today._'

I nod once, not feeling the need to reply.

I quickly put my bra on underneath my pajamas and headed down the stairs.

"Good morning, mom." I say to her.

She looks at me, and she smiles softly, but the smile looks forced.

I look over at my father and greet him a good morning.

He doesn't even acknowledge my presence.

This had been going on for six months now. I had to get used to it sooner or later.

I bit my lip and cast my gaze downwards before heading over to the table.

My mom brought over some pancakes and set them in the middle of the table.

The three of us start to eat in an uncomfortable silence.

I cleared my throat, "I applied to Yale."

My parents paused, and I looked at my mom and then my dad.

"And Harvard. I don't know if I get accepted until next week."

"That's great, Charlie." My mom says, not looking at me.

I waited for my father to say something, but nothing came.

I let out a breath and got up from the table, turning my back on my parents.

"Not great enough, apparently." I said quietly before walking out the front door.

What more do I have to do to get them to be happy?

A tear ran down my cheek and I growled.

I walked towards the forest by my house, my walk turning into a jog before I broke out into a run.

Once in the shelter of the forest, I let myself explode. My bones expanded, my muscles stretched. Brown, shaggy fur grew all over my body and my tail appeared behind me. My head changed shape, growing a snout and my ears moving up to the top of my head.

The transformation didn't last long, and it wasn't as painful as it used to be.

I let out a long howl before running off again, weaving between the trees and jumping over fallen logs.

I ran and left my anger and bitter disappointment behind me.

But tears still formed in my eyes. I slowed down and finally came to a stop in a small clearing.

I howled again, a long howl filled with sorrow and anger.

I hadn't realized I changed back into a human until I heard myself screaming.

I looked up into the sky, and let myself go.

I let out another scream before I sank to my knees and buried my face in my muddy hands.

"They don't understand, Accalia." I whispered.

'_No_,' She said, just as quietly in my mind, '_They don't_.'

I let out a small whimper.

'_Be strong, Charlie._'

"It's just so hard."

She didn't reply; there was nothing more to say.

I calmed down after a while, but I sat still.

"I don't want to go back, Accalia." I said.

She was cut off from replying.

I heard a twig snap and I froze.

'_Run_.' Accalia said urgently.

I sprang up and ran in the opposite direction.

I heard yells coming from behind me.

'_Change._' She said, '_You'll run faster._'

As I ran, I coaxed the change to happen. I didn't stop running and in a matter of seconds, I was back into my wolf form, running away from the chaos behind me.

But there were people standing in front of me now, too.

I was forced to stop and the men with the guns surrounded me.

I let out a menacing growl and bared my teeth.

"Calm down, Charlotte." One of the men said.

I barked and fear gripped at my heart.

'_How could they have known?_'Came Lia's voice from within my head.

'_I don't know, but it can't be good._' I replied.

"I'm Agent Coulson." The man said calmly, "I work for SHIELD."

The name hit something deep in my mind.

I stopped growling, but kept my tense stance.

"We need your help."

I looked at him, confused.

'_Should we trust them?_' Lia asked me.

I didn't reply, instead looking into Agent Coulson's eyes and then glancing around at the men holding the guns and letting out a small bark.

Agent Coulson nodded once and ordered the men to stand down.

Once the guns weren't pointed in my direction, I calmed down.

'_I'm trusting them, Lia. I'm changing back._'

I felt her hesitance, and I understood. But this was my decision.

I trotted behind a tree and changed back into human form. Unfortunately, after a transformation, I lose my clothing.

I peek from around the tree trunk and look at Agent Coulson.

"I need some clothes."

He nods once again and orders a woman, a petit but strong looking red head to bring some clothes over to me.

I put on the jeans and t-shirt she had given me before walking over to the large group.

"You said you need my help." I said, once I was in front of them.

"We'll explain back at the helicarrier." The woman said.

I study her and nod, allowing the group to lead me away from the forest, and away from my home.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I am not the owner of any of the characters in this story except for Charlie. She's a figment of my imagination and any resemblance to anyone is completely coincidental and non-intentional. I also do not own the plot, I'm just using bits and pieces of it including Charlie in the whole mix.**

**Previously:**

"_You said you need my help." I said, once I was in front of them._

"_We'll explain back at the helicarrier." The woman said._

_I study her and nod, allowing the group to lead me away from the forest, and away from my home._

**And now, Chapter 2!**

I was standing in front of Director Fury, a big man with an eye patch. Even with just the one eye, I felt intimidated under his gaze.

"Charlotte McCallister." He said, staring down at me, "Thank you for coming."

I say nothing.

"The world is in danger, we're at the brink of war." He continues, "And we need you to join a team we are creating to help protect the earth."

"How long have you been keeping your eye on me?"

Director Fury studies me.

I stare back, wanting to know the truth.

"Since your first transformation." He admits, looking at me evenly, "We've been keeping tabs on you, just in case."

"Just in case I lose control?" I ask.

"Just in case we needed you to come in." He corrects.

"So what's going on that you need my help?"

He hands me a file with a photo of a blue cube.

"The Tesseract." Fury said as I studied the file, "Simply put, it's energy from space. As of the moment, it is in the hands of a God named Loki. He is a threat, and has taken a few of our own as his personal puppets. We need you and a few others to get the Tesseract back, and protect the Earth."

I look up at Fury and hand the file back, "I'm in. One question, though."

He takes the file from me and raises his one eyebrow.

"What about my parents?"

"They have been notified about your involvement in SHIELD." He says.

I nod and don't say anything.

There is a loud rumble and the helicarrier is lifted up into the air just as the doors behind us open.

I turn to see who had just walked in.

Phil Coulson, the woman who had given me clothes, and two men I had never seen before walked in.

I nod at Phil and look at the woman.

She gives me a small smile, "I never gave you my name. I'm Natasha Romanoff, or, as a few people like to call me, the Black Widow."

I smile back, "Charlotte McCallister, but call me Charlie."

"We should give you an alias." She says, tapping her chin thoughtfully.

"Accalia." I say immediately, "My wolf's name is Accalia."

Natasha smiles, "It's settled then, Accalia it is."

'_I like her. She's friendly._' Accalia says.

I smile, '_Yeah, Lia. She is.'_

One of the men, the one with the blonde hair and blue eyes walked up to Fury and pulled out a ten dollar bill, handing it to the Director as he looked around the room in awe.

I look at one man; he had black hair that was kind of curly and brown eyes.

"Dr. Bruce Banner." He said, giving me a short, but firm handshake.

"Charlotte." I say, smiling, "Or Accalia, I guess."

The blonde haired man turned to me, as if only just acknowledging my presence, and held his hand out for me to shake.

"Steve Rogers," He said as I shook his hand, "Pleasure to meet you, ma'am."

"It's good to meet you, too." I say.

"He's also Captain America." Natasha says, teasing Steve.

Steve turns pink and he gives Natasha a small glare as she laughs.

"Gentlemen." Fury starts, interrupting us, "Thank you for coming."

Bruce looks at Fury, "So… How long am I staying?"

"Once we get our hands on the Tesseract, you're in the clear." Came Fury's reply.

"And how's that going?" Bruce asks.

I tune out, not really interested. Instead I stand by Natasha, watching her stare at a photo of a man up on the screen.

"You love him." I say, casually.

She tears her eyes off the photo and looks at me in surprise.

I give her a shy smile.

"He's… important to me." She says, looking back at the photo.

"Where is he?" I ask.

She doesn't respond right away, and I wait patiently.

"I don't know." She replies, quietly, "Loki took him."

I study her face. It looked as if she was close to breaking down and was hanging by a thread.

"We'll get him back." I say, looking at the photo of the man, "We'll get him back."

xxxxxxxxxxxx

I was sitting on the table, next to Natasha, staring off into space. Fury, Bruce, and Steve were still talking about who knows what.

"We've got a hit."

I sat up straight and looked at the Agent on the far side of the room.

"79 percent match." He says.

"Location?" Fury asks.

"Stuttgart, Germany."

Fury nods, "Charlie, Rogers, Romanoff. You're up."

As if it were planned, the three of us stood up and walked out of the room.

xxxxxxxxxxxx

I was wearing the skin-tight suits that SHIELD made their agents wear.

"Natasha, you do know this is just going to rip to pieces when I change right?" I say as we're flying in the jet.

Cap looks at me, confused, "Change?"

"She turns into a wolf, Cap." Natasha says for me.

He looks at me in surprise and I give him a small smile.

"Seriously, Tash. What am I going to do about my clothes?" I ask again.

'_You might actually have to stay in wolf form, if anything._' Accalia says.

"Stay in wolf form until I get you a spare shirt." Natasha says.

I laugh, "That's what Accalia said."

She looks over her shoulder at me for a second, "She talks to you?"

I nod, "Yeah, she does."

"Who talks to you?" Asked Steve.

I look over at him, "Accalia, my wolf."

I felt Accalia fill with pride when I called her 'my wolf' and I couldn't help but smile.

"You two ready?" Natasha asked us.

My heart skipped a beat.

I guess my face paled as the Captain put his hand on my shoulder and gave it a light squeeze.

"It'll be fine," He says, "I promise."

I bite my lip.

'_Accalia, you ready?'_

I feel her courage and I smile to myself.

I look up at Cap, "Let's do this."

**So there's chapter 2. It's 1 am right now and I am exhausted. I have a swim and run class in 8 hours. So I should prolly head to bed right about now. **

**Please let me know what you think!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I am not the owner of any of the characters in this story except for Charlie. She's a figment of my imagination and any resemblance to anyone is completely coincidental and non-intentional. I also do not own the plot, I'm just using bits and pieces of it including Charlie in the whole mix.**

**Previously:**

_I guess my face paled as the Captain put his hand on my shoulder and gave it a light squeeze._

"_It'll be fine," He says, "I promise."_

_I bite my lip._

'Accalia, you ready?'

_I feel her courage and I smile to myself._

_I look up at Cap, "Let's do this."_

**And now, Chapter 3!**

I was floating down towards the crowd. I watched as the man, or God or whatever he was, walked towards a crowd and… cloned himself? How was that even possible?

I held back a snort. Says the girl who can change into a wolf whenever she wants.

"You alright, Accalia?" Came Captain's voice through my earpiece.

"I'm fine." I replied.

"Land a few feet away from the crowd." Captain said, "Don't turn unless you absolutely feel the need to."

"Roger that." I replied, then I grinned, "Get it? 'Roger that'? Because your last name's 'Rogers', get it? Ha!"

His laugh came through the other end and I swelled with pride.

I loved making people laugh.

The Captain landed in time to save an elderly man from being pulverized, and following Cap's orders, I landed behind the group, in the cover of darkness.

"You know," I hear Cap say to Loki, "The last time I was in Germany and saw a man standing above everybody else, we ended up disagreeing."

"The soldier." Loki sneered, "The man out of time."

"I'm not the one who is out of time." Captain replied.

The jet arrives from above the scene and points a machine gun towards Loki.

"Loki, drop the weapon and stand down."

Before I could even blink, Loki lets out a blast of blue light at the jet. Thankfully, Natasha gets out of the way and Cap throws his shield at Loki.

I run towards them, changing into a wolf in the process. The civilians back away, shouting in German and running in different directions. Loki knocks Cap down.

"Kneel." Loki says.

I tackled Loki to the ground and growled at him, baring my fangs.

I keep my front paws on his shoulders and keep my weight on him.

"The wolf," Loki says with much effort, "How nice of you to join us."

Loki knees me in the gut and I am thrown off him.

I land on my back and I shake my head, trying to clear it.

I look over at the fight again, watching as Cap throws a few punches at Loki before he manages to knock Loki over.

I get ready to charge again, as Loki flips Cap over, but a man in a red and gold suit lands in front of Loki.

The man points his palms at Loki and, what I assume are weapons, are aimed at Loki.

"Make your move, Reindeer Games." The man says.

Loki glares at the man, and his armor fades away.

"Good move."

Captain comes up to the man, "Mr. Stark."

"Captain." The man glances over his shoulder, looking at me, "Wolfy."

xxxxxxxxxxxx

I was wearing a shirt that was two sizes too big. Natasha couldn't find any pants for me, but the shirt was long enough to cover everything that needed to be covered.

The man that came in to save the day was a man named Tony Stark, the Iron Man.

"So you turn into the Big Bad Wolf." He says.

I wince, "I guess."

"Impressive." He says, nodding, "Were you born like that? Or are you an experiment that went horribly wrong?"

"I don't like it." Steve cut off, whispering.

We were standing on the other side of the jet, glancing over at Loki every once in a while. We hear the roar of thunder and I look out the front of the jet, feeling kind of scared.

"What?" Tony says, "Charlie turning into a wolf, or Rock of Ages giving up so easily?"

"I don't remember it being ever that easy." Steve admits, "This guy packs a wallop."

"Still, you are pretty spry, for an older fellow." Tony starts, "What's your thing? Pilates?"

Steve looks confused, "What?"

Tony is cut off from answering when lightning strikes near the jet, making it shake.

I stumble and Tony catches my arm, before I fall.

"What's the matter?" Steve says, looking at Loki, "Scared of a little lightning?"

"I'm not overly fond of what follows."

I narrow my eyes at Loki, wondering what he was getting at.

Suddenly, the ramp opens, and a big man wearing a red cape and a suit of armor strides in.

He picks Loki up by his neck and jumps off the jet, taking Loki with him.

Tony immediately looks over the edge, and his helmet is back in place.

"Now there's that guy." He says.

"Another Asgardian?" Natasha asks.

"Think the guy's a friendly?" Captain asks.

"Doesn't matter." Tony says, "If he frees Loki, or kills him, the Tesseract is lost."

"Stark, we need a plan of attack." Captain says.

Tony prepares to jump, "I have a plan. Attack."

"Wait!" I exclaim and Tony pauses, looking at me.

"Take me with you, I can help."

I walk towards Tony, who holds onto my waist and then jumps off the plane, bringing me along with him.

"I'll drop you a little ways off." He says, "I'm going to charge at the idiot."

'_Charlie, what are you going to do?_' Accalia asks.

'_I don't know. Help Tony in any way I can.'_

"Ready?" Tony asks.

I nod once, "Yes."

He drops me a few feet off the ground and I change into a wolf just in time for me to land smoothly.

Immediately, I run towards the two Gods and jump onto a ledge to get up the where they were.

Tony flies into the God who took Loki and the pair fly off.

I make it to the ledge and I glare at Loki.

He smirks, "Have you come to watch the show too?"

I growl.

'_Be careful, Charlie.'_ Accalia warns.

"Now, now." Loki says, "No need to be so hostile."

I let out a small bark, in warning.

I hear a crash and I look over at Iron Man and the other God battling it out.

"Go ahead and help metal man." Loki says, "I can't go anywhere, Thor will be able to find me."

I glance over at him warily.

"You do not believe me, fair enough." Loki says again, "But I dare not move. My brother, Thor, has a nasty temper."

'_Brother?_' Accalia asks, in surprise.

I was confused, too. I let out a long howl and leap off the ledge, charging at Thor.

I knock him to the ground just in time to save Tony's head from being crushed by Thor's hammer.

I land on my feet and Thor crashes into a tree.

Thor looks up and glares at me.

"You dare charge at me?" He says.

His voice was deep and laced with anger. I growled at him and crouched, prepared to fight him.

Thor runs to me and swings the hammer in the air, prepared to strike down.

I dodge and snap at Thor's arm.

I catch him just enough to graze his flesh with my teeth.

He snaps his head back to look at his bleeding flesh wound and glares at me.

A blast of light knocks Thor to another tree and I glance at Tony, who had his right palm pointed at Thor.

Thor stands and throws his hammer at Iron Man, who is thrown back.

Thor runs at me and I meet him halfway.

I see his arm throw back, ready to punch me.

'_Dodge._'

I dodged.

'_Attack._'

And I did, I stood on my hind legs and swiped at Thor with my sharp claws.

He falls back just as Tony comes back to us, prepared to blast Thor again.

But Captain America stops the three of us with his shield.

"That's enough!" He shouts, staring down at us from a fallen tree.

He looks over at Thor, "Now, I don't know what you plan on doing here-"

"I've come to put an end to Loki's schemes." Thor cuts in.

"Then prove it!" Captain says, jumping down from the tree and onto the ground, "Put the hammer down."

I barked.

"Um, yeah, no! Bad call!" Tony protests, "He loves his hammer!"

Thor backhands Tony with the hammer and I prepare to jump at Thor again.

"You want me to put the hammer down?" Thor asks, his voice rising.

Thor jumps into the air toward Cap.

Tony pulls me away and shields me with his body.

"Stay down." He hisses.

There is a loud clang and the impact between Thor's hammer and Cap's shield make it seem as if a bomb had just exploded.

Tony gets off me, "You alright?"

I nod my head yes and I trot over to Cap and Thor, who was looking at the three of us, surprised.

"Are we done here?" Cap asked.

**That's chapter 3! I'll upload the next chapter maybe in a few days.**

**Thank you so much to:**

**WordsAreFun, THE-H0LY-TRINITY, xxxMadameMysteryxxx, Hope06, Robyn Artemis Ride, and Latina shewolf for following this story.**

**Hope 06 and Robyn Artemis Ride for fave-ing this story.**

**And to xxxMadameMysteryxxx and Hope06 and the anon who reviewed.**

**I love you guys!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I am not the owner of any of the characters in this story except for Charlie. She's a figment of my imagination and any resemblance to anyone is completely coincidental and non-intentional. I also do not own the plot, I'm just using bits and pieces of it including Charlie in the whole mix.**

**Previously:**

_Tony gets off me, "You alright?"_

_I nod my head yes and I trot over to Cap and Thor, who was looking at the three of us, surprised._

"_Are we done here?" Cap asked._

**And now, Chapter 4!**

I pulled Thor's cape tighter around my body and walked with the others to the briefing room.

I caught Tony's smirk and I glared at him.

"Shut it, Stark." I say.

"I haven't said anything." He says, grinning.

I let out a wolfish growl.

"So you growl in human form, too." He says with a twinkle in his eyes, "I wonder what kind of growl will come out of you in bed."

"Tony!" Natasha scolds, "Stop tormenting the poor girl!"

My face turns into the same shade of red as Thor's cloak.

"Leave her alone, Stark." Captain says, immediately defending my honor.

He gives me a seedy wink, "Just thinking out loud."

'_Lia, you've been awfully quiet._'

She doesn't reply and I frown.

'_Lia?_'

Still no reply. I stop walking and I stare at the ground.

"Why'd you stop walking?" I heard Tony's voice ask, "Charlie, I was kidding. Are you alright?"

'_Lia? Lia!'_ My inner voice grew desperate, '_Lia! Answer me!_'

But only silence.

I began to panic and I looked at Natasha.

"Natasha, I can't hear her. I can't hear Accalia anymore." I say, my eyes filling with tears.

Thor and Tony stare at me, confused. Cap and Natasha share a look.

"I don't know what's happening." I say, worriedly, "This has never happened before. I could always hear her. _Always._"

'_Lia?!'_

I grew desperate and I covered myself completely with Thor's cloak, hoping I can go wolf.

The transformation is painful. I grit my teeth and pushed through the pain. Every bone in my body felt like it was breaking and my muscles felt like they were being ripped apart. My blood boiled under my skin before I could finally open my eyes in my wolf form.

I crawled out of Thor's cloak and sat on my hind legs.

'_Accalia?'_

I whimpered.

"Charlie, is everything alright?" Natasha asks, worried.

I howled. A long howl and a few tears escaped my wolfish eyes and they ran around my snout before dripping onto the floor.

Natasha hesitates before she pats my head and runs her hand through my fur.

"It's going to be okay."

I shook my head and walked down the corridor.

If Accalia had vanished, I couldn't do much about it. I could only hope that she'll return. But until that happens, I had to help save the world.

The others followed behind me and we walked into the briefing room.

Bruce was inside, sitting on a chair.

He stood up when we walked in.

"Guys, what's with the wolf?" He asks calmly, keeping his eyes on me.

I stalk off to hide under the table and I lay on the ground. I closed my eyes and listened to the conversation.

"It's Charlie." Steve says.

"She can turn into a wolf?" Bruce asks, the surprise evident in his voice. "Is there a reason why she isn't human? Can't she change back?"

There is an awkward silence.

"Did I say something wrong?" He tries again.

"It isn't our story to tell, Dr. Banner." Natasha says.

"Even if it was, we have no idea what's going on." Steve adds.

The silence hung in the air again, thick and heavy.

"It's good to meet you, Dr. Banner." Tony says, breaking the silence, "Your work on anti-electron collisions is unparalleled. And I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster."

That caught me by surprise. Nice, sweet, and kind Dr. Banner turn into a rage monster?

But I was too sad to care. Accalia still was nowhere to be heard.

"Thanks." Came Banner's reply.

There is a mechanical whirring and then I hear Fury and Loki's voices.

My ears twitch and I crawl out from my hiding spot, staring at the television that had suddenly appeared on the surface of the table.

I narrow my eyes at the sight of Loki.

"_It's an impressive cage. Not built, I think, for me."_ Loki says.

"_Built for something a lot stronger than you._" Fury replies.

"_Oh I've heard_." Loki says, smirking at the camera.

I risk a glance at Bruce who froze and stared unblinkingly at the screen.

Loki looks back at Fury.

"_The mindless beast, makes play he's still a man._" Loki says, "_How desperate are you, that you call upon such lost creatures to defend you? Even bringing in that teenage werewolf, one who's been so alone all throughout her life, and alone, even now._"

I let out a quiet growl. Loki is going to pay if he had anything to do with Accalia going 'missing'.

I feel some eyes on me, but I don't look away from the monitor.

"_How desperate am I? You threaten my world with war, you steal a force you can't hope to control, you talk about peace and you kill cause it's fun._" Fury says, glaring at Loki, "_You have made me very desperate. You might not be glad that you did._"

I watch as Loki's grin widens.

"_It burns you to come so close. To have the Tesseract, to have power… Unlimited power. And for what? A warm light for all mankind to share, and then to be reminded what real power is."_

Fury smiles, "_Well, you let me know if Real Power wants a magazine or something._"

Director Fury leaves the room and Loki is left alone.

He turns to the camera again and smirks before the monitor turns black.

We all stand in silence.

"He really grows on you, doesn't he?" Banner says, trying to make light of the situation.

I turn to look at Thor and nudge him.

He looks down at me confused.

I paw at his cape and gently tug at it with my teeth.

"I do not understand." He says, his eyebrows furrowing.

I let out a breath and look up at Natasha.

"She wants your drapes, Thor." Tony says, smirking.

I roll my eyes at Tony.

Thor lets out an "ah" in understanding and throws his cape over me.

I change back and the transformation is just as painful as it was in the beginning.

I make sure I'm completely covered before I stand up.

"Loki's going to drag this out." I say, my voice rather hoarse, "What's his play, Thor?"

"He has an army called the Chitauri. They're not of Asgard or any world known." Thor says, looking at the black screen of the monitor, "He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the earth, in return, I suspect, for the Tesseract."

"An army?" Steve asks, "From outer space?"

"So he's building another portal." Banner says, "That's what he needs Erik Selvig for."

Thor looks at Banner, "Selvig?"

"He's an astrophysicist."

Thor pauses, "He's a friend."

"Loki has him under some kind of spell." Natasha says, "Along with one of ours."

I look at her, immediately understanding that she meant the man she loved.

"I wanna know why Loki let us take him." Steve says, "He's not leading an army from here."

"He has something planned." I say quietly.

"I don't think we should be focusing on Loki." Banner says, crossing his arms over his chest, "That guy's brain is a bag full of cats, you could smell crazy on him."

"I don't care how you speak." Thor cuts in, throwing Bruce a look, "Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard, and he's my brother."

"He killed eighty people in two days." Natasha says.

Thor pauses, "He's adopted."

I smile a little, "Figures."

The door opens and Director Fury walks in.

"Team." He nods in acknowledgment. His gaze lingers on me.

"McCallister, what on earth are you wearing?"

"Thor's drapes." Tony answers.

I shrug, "It was either this, walk around as a wolf, or naked."

"Naked would've been nice." Tony says, winking at me.

I stare at him, "You know, my bite is worse than my bark."

"Ooh, threatening to bite me now, are we?" Tony smirks, "Well isn't that kinky? I bet you go just go absolutely _wild_ in bed, huh?"

The group lets out a collective sigh and Natasha hits the back of his head.

"Stark, leave the poor kid alone." Bruce says. "Are you targeting teenagers now?"

"Hey, she's 18, there is nothing illegal about it."

"Let's start working on that stick of Loki's." Steve cuts in, before Tony says anything else, "It may be magical, but it works an awful lot like a Hydra weapon."

"I don't know about that, but it is powered by the cube." Fury says, "And I'd like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys."

"Monkeys?" Thor asks, looking confused, "I do not understand."

"I do!" Steve says, grinning, "I understood that reference!"

I laugh and shake my head.

"Well, doctor." Tony says, standing up from the table and looking over at Bruce, "Shall we play?"

Bruce nods and stands as well, "Let's play some."

I watch as they walk out of the room.

I stand too, "If this is over and done with, I'd like to go too. And put on some clothes."

Fury nods, "You're all dismissed."

"Thor, I'll give you back the cape when I'm… decent." I say.

"Take your time, maiden. I am in no rush."

Natasha and I leave the room together.

"What did Tony mean when he said Bruce turns into a monster?" I asked her.

She hesitated, "It's a long story, and I think you're better off reading the files on all of us. We're all… interconnected in different ways."

I nod.

"What's your story?" She asks.

"I don't have a story." I admit, "I woke up one morning and Accalia was suddenly there. It's how my eyes turned out like this."

"The guys and I've been meaning to ask you about that. But we didn't know how to phrase the question."

I shrug, "I wouldn't have minded."

She and I stop at the door of my room.

I turn to walk in.

"Charlie."

I pause.

"I'm here." She says, "If you need anything."

I close my eyes and a lump formed in my throat.

"Thank you." I whispered, before walking into my room and closing the door behind me.

**I think this chapter sucked. **** I'LL DO BETTER NEXT TIME, I SWEAR.**

**Thanks to all those who reviewed, and favorited, and followed, for some reason won't let me see who exactly did, and I forgot the password to my email because someone accessed my account and changed the password so I had to change it, and I guess it's a brilliant password considering I forgot what I changed it to.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I am not the owner of any of the characters in this story except for Charlie. She's a figment of my imagination and any resemblance to anyone is completely coincidental and non-intentional. I also do not own the plot, I'm just using bits and pieces of it including Charlie in the whole mix.**

**Previously:**

"_Charlie."_

_I pause._

"_I'm here." She says, "If you need anything."_

_I close my eyes and a lump formed in my throat._

"_Thank you." I whispered, before walking into my room and closing the door behind me._

**And now, Chapter 5!**

**BY THE WAY, I don't know how accurate the bios on the characters are, as I only just now looked up the backgrounds on each of the Avengers, and I think it's based more on the comic books than they are on the movie. (Taken from Yahoo! Movies, btw)**

I stayed up that night, reading up on my teammates and keeping my mind off the still-missing Accalia.

I started by reading up on Director Nick Fury.

'_The Infinity Formula, administered by Professor Berthold Sternberg to save his life, has slowed down the aging process. Fury must receive booster shots each year or revert to his true age. He has 70 years of military training and service.'_

Who'd have thought?

I closed his file and picked up Bruce's file. I was burning with curiosity ever since I heard Tony mention something about a monster.

'_While trying to revive the Super Soldier program, Dr. Bruce Banner, after a subsequent gamma radiation accident, triggers his first transformation into the Hulk.'_

I stared at the photo attached. This… was Banner? The Hulk, in the photo, was shown throwing a tank over his head, his teeth grinding against each other in anger.

What was this about the Super Soldier program though? I scanned through the other files and found it in Steve's file.

'_Born in the Great Depression, Steven Rogers attempted to enlist in the US Army, but due to multiple health problems, had been rejected four times. Rogers successfully enlists in the US Army on the fifth try, after Professor Abraham Erskine notices him, and recruits Rogers into the Super Soldier program, a program designed to create a perfect human being, a perfect soldier. The Super Soldier Serum is injected into his body, and Steve Rogers' agility, speed, endurance, and strength are enhanced. After crashing a Hydra jet into the ocean, Rogers is frozen in ice for nearly 70 years, until he is woken up by SHIELD.'_

I blinked. 70 years? So _that's_ why Tony called Steve an "old fellow".

Speaking of Tony…

I opened Tony's file, being greeted with a photo of him out of his suit, and one photo of him in his suit.

'_At the age of 21, Anthony Stark inherited Stark Industries, turning it into a multi-billion dollar industry creating advanced weaponry for the US government. While travelling to Afghanistan to supervise a field test, he is taken captive by Afghan terrorists for three months. To keep himself alive after shrapnel enters his bloodstream, he, along with the help of fellow captive Professor Yinsen, builds the arc reactor, and then creates the very first Iron Man suit to escape captivity. Returning to the United States, Stark creates different versions of the Iron Man suit before being recruited into SHIELD.'_

I guess I couldn't blame Tony for being a perverted jerk. Who knows, he could be using that as a mask to keep from breaking down.

I toss Tony's file back onto my desk and pick up Thor's file.

'_Son of Odin, Thor is the King of Asgard. His weapon, Mjolnir, allows him to control the weather and fly._'

Well, that was short. I snorted before opening Natasha's file. But it was just as short as Thor's.

'_Natalia "Natasha" Romanova born in Stalingrad, Russia; assassin and partner of Agent Clint Barton_.'

Clint Barton? I haven't met a Clint Barton.

I picked up the last file and scanned through it.

Clint Barton was assigned to kill Natasha, but he made a different call, choosing to recruit her into SHIELD instead. Skilled in hand-to-hand combat, bla bla bla, expert swordsman, bla bla bla.

This was the man she was in love with.

I raked a hand through my hair and go up from the uncomfortable desk chair.

I let myself fall into the bed and I stared up at the ceiling.

'_Lia?_' I tried.

There was still no reply and a lump formed at my throat.

Tears filled my eyes, and I tried to force them back down. But they came anyway.

Then someone knocked at my door.

I sat up and rubbed at my eyes furiously.

"Come in." I said.

The doors slid open and Tony walked in.

He glanced at me and then looked away onto the desk.

"Doing some studying?"

I shrugged, thankful he didn't ask about why my face was splotchy or why my eyes were red.

"I wanted to know what I got myself into."

He smiled at me, "Is the crazy God trying to enslave the Earth not clue enough?"

I laugh, "Fair enough."

"So you know our stories," Tony says, "What's yours?"

"Is there not a file on me or something?" I tease.

He scoffs, "A file is a file. Reading about something is different from hearing it. It gives perspective on things."

"Deep thoughts with Anthony Stark." I say, trying not to smile.

He rolls his eyes playfully, but looks into my eyes intently, waiting.

"What did Loki mean when he said you were alone?"

"Just that, nothing more to it." I say, "It's a boring story."

Tony shrugs, and walks over to the chair and sits on it, facing me.

He waves his hands in a "get-on-with-it" motion.

So I told him.

Everything.

Just total, and complete word vomit.

I'm not even completely sure that what I was saying made any sense. I just kept talking, and talking, and talking until I somehow ended up crying.

I told him about Accalia, and how she had never left me before. I told him about my parents. I told him about Harvard and Yale. I told him about the pain of transforming. I told him about the thrill of running with the wind rushing through my fur.

Everything.

And he sat there, listening. Listening to every single useless word I said.

xxxxxxxxxxxx

"Can you track things by scent?" Tony asked over breakfast the next morning.

"I think so, I've never really tried it." I replied, stabbing my scrambled eggs.

His eyes twinkle, "Would you like to?"

I raised my eyebrow, "Smell something to try and find out where it is? I think you can see why the idea doesn't appeal to me."

He pouted and batted his eyelashes, "Pleeeeeeeease?"

"No, Tony." I said, laughing, "And the puppy dog look won't work on me. I can turn into a Wolf, I practically _am_ the puppy dog look."

He frowns before smirking.

He smoothly scoots over closer to me and lowers his face near mine.

His chocolate brown eyes look into my eyes and he blinks once, keeping his face serious.

My heart skips a beat as he glances down at my lips before staring back into my eyes.

"Please?" He asks quietly.

I stop moving for a while before I push his face away with my hand, and immediately look the other way.

"Fine." I mutter in defeat.

He pumps his fist in the air and he grins at me.

'_Damn him_', I think to myself before I smile back.

He pulls out a handkerchief and hands it to me.

"Here," He says, "Use this to track down the owner."

"Can't it wait until I'm done eating, Stark?"

He pouts, "Fine. But you're looking for it as soon as we're done eating."

"Is it really that important?" I ask, biting into my toast, "I mean, I'll have to change to trace whoever it is you want me to trace. And when I find it, I'll have to change back! You forget… I lose my clothing, Stark."

His eyes twinkle, "Oh, trust me. I haven't forgotten."

I roll my eyes, "You're perverted."

"Tell me something I don't know, sweetheart!" He says, stealing my toast right out of my hands and taking a bite.

My jaw drops, "You just took my toast."

He takes another bite and winks at me, "I just took your toast."

xxxxxxxxxxxx

I held the handkerchief in my hand and looked at Tony warily.

"This isn't going to lead me to my death, is it?"

He laughs and shrugs his shoulders.

I sighed and, as Tony watched my every move, I coaxed the wolf in me to come out.

I looked at Tony as my body changed shape, surprise covered his features and he looked amazed when the transformation was complete.

The handkerchief had fallen to the floor and I sniffed at it.

A strange scent invaded my senses and I sneezed.

Tony laughed and I glared up at him.

"You have to admit, Charlie," Tony said, holding his hands up in defense, "That was really cute."

I roll my eyes and smelled the hankie again. This time I could pick up a unique scent and I sniffed the air.

I trotted out of my bedroom and walked down the hallway, completely aware that Tony was closely following behind me.

I pressed my nose to the ground and followed the smell. I took a few turns and walked up a few steps before I found myself face to face with a door that wouldn't open.

I cocked my head to the side and looked at Tony who smiled.

He tossed me a robe and turned the other way.

I glanced around the hallway and changed back into my human form and quickly grabbed the robe and put it on.

"Whatever it is you wanted to find is in the room." I said, tying the front of the robe closed.

"Are you decent?" Tony asked, "Can I turn around?"

"Wow, did you really just ask that?" I teased, "I always thought you'd prefer to see most girls naked."

"You aren't most girls." He says, taking a peek behind him before turning around, "You're different."

I didn't say anything.

"And I like different." He adds, winking, before taking my hand and leading me into the room.

**I hope you like it omfg.**

**Thanks to:**

**srosegarden, blueRAYE13, Blackdragons27, and NeonBunBun for following this story!**

**Lorelee13 for faving!**

**And to Hope06 for reviewing! Thank you so much! I really tried hard to make sure the emotion would pass through, and I'm happy it worked! I loved writing that bit too, because it is rather true, isn't it? Thank you for reviewing, it really really really means loads to me as a writer.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I am not the owner of any of the characters in this story except for Charlie. She's a figment of my imagination and any resemblance to anyone is completely coincidental and non-intentional. I also do not own the plot, I'm just using bits and pieces of it including Charlie in the whole mix.**

**Previously:**

_"Are you decent?" Tony asked, "Can I turn around?"_

_"Wow, did you really just ask that?" I teased, "I always thought you'd prefer to see most girls naked."_

_"You aren't most girls." He says, taking a peek behind him before turning around, "You're different."_

_I didn't say anything._

_"And I like different." He adds, winking, before taking my hand and leading me into the room._

**And now, Chapter 6!**

XXXXXX

"What exactly am I supposed to be looking at?"

"You don't like it." It wasn't a question. Tony stated it.

"I don't know what it is." I corrected.

We were in the gym of the helicarrier, and I was staring at a black piece of… something.

Tony sighed.

"It's a suit, Charlie." Tony said, "A suit that you could wear that would stay on even after you change back from wolf form."

I look at him, surprised.

"I figured you were tired of walking around wearing Thor's drapes…" Tony muttered.

I picked up the suit and looked at it.

It looked like the ordinary suits SHIELD agents had to wear, but it had a red trim and looked sleeker than the other suits. The SHIELD logo had traces of red and gold in it and I smiled.

"Red and gold, huh?" I say, teasing him, "I thought those were your colors."

He didn't say anything.

I sigh and turn to hug him. I stood on my toes and put my arms around his neck.

He froze but slowly his arms wrapped around my waist.

"It's really sweet of you, Tony." I whisper, "I love it. Thank you."

I plant a kiss on his cheek and pull away, immediately turning back to look at the suit so he wouldn't see my blushing face.

"Is it going to work?" I ask, breaking the silence.

He cleared his throat, "Theoretically, it should."

I raise an eyebrow, "Theoretically?"

"Well, we haven't had anyone to test it out on." Tony said, "You can't exactly shove Bruce into that and make him change into the Hulk and back to see if it would work."

I laughed at the image of Bruce in a skin-tight SHIELD suit.

"Only one way to find out if it works." I say, picking up the suit again.

"And if it doesn't work…" Tony trailed off, waggling his eyebrows.

I rolled my eyes, "Keep dreaming, Stark."

"Oh, trust me, I already have been."

"And just for that, I'm gonna go test this out in my room." I say, throwing the suit over my shoulder and walking past him.

"What? That's not fair!"

I grin and turn to look at him from the doorway, "Who said anything about playing fair?"

He narrows his eyes, "Oh, it's on. You just initiated war."

I smirk, "When you're ready to surrender, Tin Man, I'll be in my bedroom."

I turn and walk away, leaving an open-mouthed Tony Stark in the gym.

XXXXXX

The suit did work.

I didn't even want to ask how they managed it, but it worked.

I did a little twirl, in my room and grinned.

I exited my room, intent on finding Natasha to tell her the news when I saw her turn a corner.

I followed her, news about the suit far from my mind. What was she up to?

XXXXXX

"There's not many people that can sneak up on me."

I froze. What was Natasha doing in Loki's cell?

"But you figured I'd come." Natasha replied.

"After. After whatever tortures Fury can concoct, you would appear as a friend, as a balm." Loki said, "And I would cooperate."

"I wanna know what you've done to Agent Barton."

"I'd say I've expanded his mind." I could just _see_ Loki's smirk.

"And once you've won, once you're king of the mountain, what happens to his mind?"

"Is this love, Agent Romanoff?" Loki asked.

"Love is for children." Natasha replied monotonously, "I owe him a debt."

"And what about you, Wolf?" My eyes widened, "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

I walked from behind the wall and caught Natasha's eye. I could see the alarm behind her eyes before she masked it behind a straight face.

I looked into Loki's eyes steadily and said nothing.

He laughs, "Don't talk so fast, I can barely understand a word you are saying."

I stay silent and stare at him, his grin only widens.

"You've come to ask about your Wolf." Loki says, a twinkle in his eyes, "You've come to ask if I've anything to do with her disappearance."

He laughs again and claps his hands, once. Twice. Three times.

"I've had nothing to do with it." He says, "You made her disappear."

I clench my teeth but I still say silent.

"Such a young girl." He coos at me, "And so unloved by her parents, abandoned by the only friend she had."

"Leave her alone, Loki." Natasha says firmly, standing up.

He looks at her, feigning surprise, "Ah, Agent Romanoff. I forgot you were in the room with us. I was having such a delightful conversation with this creature that I forgot you were in our presence!"

He sits down in his cell and grins, "But let us continue our conversation, Miss Romanoff. You were just about to tell me why you owe Agent Barton a debt."

I keep my eyes on Loki, not daring to look at Natasha.

"Before I worked for SHIELD, I made a name for myself." Natasha says without hesitating, "I have a very specific skillset. I didn't care whom I used it for, or on. I got on SHIELD's radar in a bad way. Agent Barton was sent to kill me, he made a different call."

"And what will you do if I vow to spare him?" Loki asks.

I looked over at Natasha, waiting.

"Not let you out." She says.

Loki laughs, "Ah, no. But I like this. Your world in the balance, and you bargain for one man?"

"Regimes fall every day." Natasha says, shrugging, "I tend not to weep over that, I'm Russian… or was."

"What is it you want?"

"It's really not that complicated." Natasha replies, "I've got red in my ledger, I'd like to wipe it out."

This seemed to have hit a nerve in Loki, as his tone turned cold.

"Can you? Can you wipe out that much red? Drakov's daughter? Sao Paulo? The hospital fire? Barton told me everything. Your ledger is dripping, it's gushing red, and you think saving a man no more virtuous than yourself will change anything?"

Loki stands, angry. I take a step toward Natasha, who had frozen in her spot, staring at Loki.

"This is the basest sentimentality. This is a child at prayer… PATHETIC! You lie and kill in the service of liars and killers. You pretend to be separate, to have your own code, something that makes up for the horrors. But they are a part of you, and they will never go away!"

Loki slams his fist against the wall of his cell and Natasha and I flinch. I was by her side, slightly behind her.

"I won't touch Barton." Loki says, his tone deadly. "Not until I make him kill you! Slowly… Intimately… In every way he knows you fear! And then he'll wake just long enough to see his good work, and when he screams, I'll split his skull! This is my bargain, you mewling quim!"

Natasha turns away from Loki and I reach out, placing my hand on her shoulder.

"You're a monster." She whispers.

Loki laughs, maniacally, "No, you brought the monster."

Natasha immediately straightens up and turns to look at Loki.

"So, Banner… That's your play."

Loki blinks in disbelief, "What?"

Natasha puts her hand up to her ear, "Loki means to unleash the Hulk. Keep banner in the lab, I'm on my way. Send Thor as well."

She takes my arm and leads me out of the room.

She pauses half way and turns to look at Loki, "Thank you, for your cooperation."

But Loki stands there, frozen.

She and I leave the room and she lets out a breath.

"That was a stupid thing you did, Charlie, walking in like that."

"I didn't mean to." I say quietly, "I wanted to show you something, but it seems petty now."

I look at her, "We'll find him. And if not, he'll find us."

She says nothing and Natasha and I walk in silence towards the lab.

I frowned as we neared the lab, watching Steve, Thor, Tony, Bruce, and Director Fury in the room.

Tash and I share a look before rushing the rest of the way.

"I was wrong, director." Steve was saying, just as we walked in, "The world hasn't changed a bit."

Bruce looked at Natasha, angry, "Did you know about this?"

"You wanna think about removing yourself from this environment, doctor?" Natasha replies, ignoring the question.

What in the hell was going on?

"I was in Calcutta." Bruce says, "I was pretty well removed."

"Loki's manipulating you." Natasha says calmly.

"And you've been doing what exactly?" Bruce says, sarcasm laced in his voice.

"You didn't come here because I bat my eyelashes at you."

"Yes, and I'm not leaving because you get a little twitchy." Bruce replies, "I'd like to know why SHILED is using the Tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction."

What?

"Weapons?" My voice cuts in, "Why are we making weapons?"

Director Fury points at Thor, "Because of him."

Thor looks stunned, "Me?"

"Last year, Earth had a visitor from another planet who had a grudge that leveled a small town." Fury says, "We learned that not only are we not alone, but we are hopelessly, hilariously, out gunned."

"My people want nothing but peace with your planet." Thor says, defending Asgard.

"But you're not the only people out there, are you? And you aren't the only threat. The world's filling up with people who can't be matched, they can't be controlled." Fury says.

"Like you controlled the cube?" Steve says, glaring slightly at Director Fury.

Thor turns to Director Fury, "Your work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki to it, and his allies. It is the signal to all the realms that the Earth is ready for a higher form of war."

"You forced our hand." Fury says, "We had to come up with something."

"Nuclear deterrent. Cause that always calms everything right down." Tony cuts in.

And that's when everyone in the room loses control. Angry words were being thrown at each other, I couldn't even follow the conversation anymore.

"ENOUGH!" I yelled, cutting in between their argument.

"You are all acting like children!" I say, angry.

The six of them turn their gazes at me.

"You're the child here." Thor says.

I glare at him, "And yet, I'm not the ones doing all the arguing."

"We're supposed to be a team." I say, looking at each of them, "We aren't acting like a team if we're standing here yelling our heads off."

"A team?" Bruce says, "No, no, no. We're not a team. We're a chemical mixture that makes chaos. We're… We're a time bomb."

"You need to step away." Director Fury warns him.

Tony puts his arm around Steve, "Why shouldn't the guy let off a little steam?"

And chaos breaks out again. I stood, there, listening.

"Yes, this is a te-" Bruce starts to say, but Fury cuts him off.

"Agent Romanoff, would you escort Dr. Banner back to his-"

"Where?" Banner retorts, "You rented my room."

"The cell was just in case-"

"In case you needed to kill me, but you can't! I know! I tried!"

We all froze and looked at Banner.

"I got low. I didn't see an end, so I put a bullet in my mouth and the other guy spit it out! So I moved on. I focused on other people." Bruce said, "I was good, until you dragged me back into this freak show and put everyone here at risk!"

He turns to Natasha.

"You wanna know my secret, Agent Romanoff? You wanna know how I stay calm?"

I stare at Bruce, who had taken a hold of Loki's scepter and I tensed.

"Doctor Banner…" Steve says, his voice calm, "Put down the scepter."

Shock covers Bruce's features and stares down at his hand.

We wait for his move when there is a beep.

"Got it." Tony says.

Bruce puts down the scepter and walks toward a computer.

"Sorry, kids, you don't get to see my little party trick after all."

"Located the Tesseract?" Thor asks.

"I can get there faster." Tony says.

"Look." Steve starts, "All of us-"

"The Tesseract belongs on Asgard, no human is a match for it."

"Oh, for Christ's sake, would all of you stop arguing!" I snap.

"Oh my God!"

We didn't have time to react, didn't even know what had happened.

All I knew was that there was an explosion. And I was in the lower equipment room with Natasha and Bruce.

And I also knew that Bruce was losing control.

**THERE WE GO, CHAPTER 6. I know it took a long while, but I've been studying. I have a test in math in exactly 10 hours, which means that I should get to bed. Like right now.**

**Anyway, I want to thank:**

**Twili Princess Hyrule Queen, Autumn's Fire, TsukiLovesSnape, SakuraSagger15, Cinderfire16, Thundershock1914, Epic timelade TWright for following and ThornRose16 for following and faveing.**

**And a special thanks to Hop06 for reviewing yet again. I swear, I love seeing that people are following and faveing my story, but getting reviews from my readers is really the cherry on top. **


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I am not the owner of any of the characters in this story except for Charlie. She's a figment of my imagination and any resemblance to anyone is completely coincidental and non-intentional. I also do not own the plot, I'm just using bits and pieces of it including Charlie in the whole mix.**

**Previously:**

_"Oh my God!"_

_We didn't have time to react, didn't even know what had happened._

_All I knew was that there was an explosion. And I was in the lower equipment room with Natasha and Bruce. _

_And I also knew that Bruce was losing control._

**And now, Chapter 7!**

XXXXXX

I winced and pushed my upper body up from the floor.

"Doctor… Bruce, you've got to fight it. This is just what Loki wants. We're gonna be okay. Listen to me." I hear Natasha say.

I let out a quiet groan and opened my eyes, looking first at Bruce who looked to be in pain, and Natasha, whose leg was trapped underneath a pillar.

I shook off the pain and stood up quietly, slowly, making my way toward Natasha.

Bruce's nails scraped at the floor and his back arched.

"We're going to be okay. Right?" Natasha continued, as I tried to help free her, "I swear on my life I will get you out of this, you will walk away, and never-"

"Your life?" Bruce cut in. His voice was hoarse, and it came out in a growl.

"Bruce…" Natasha pleaded quietly.

But it was too late.

Natasha and I watched in horror as Bruce's eyes glowed green. He retreated in the darkness and transformed in the dark.

"Natasha, quickly." I say urgently, "I'm going to try to lift it one last time, try and pull yourself out."

I take in a deep breath and, putting my hands at the base of the pillar, lifted.

I raised it up from the ground a few inches and Natasha wiggled out.

There was a very inhumane growl and a shiver ran down my spine. The Hulk emerges from the shadows and my eyes widen at the sight of the green monster in front of me.

"Run." Natasha said.

I didn't have to be told twice. She and I split up, her going up the stairs while I maneuvered between the rubble.

The Hulk went after Natasha and I skidded to a halt. I had to help her.

I forced the change to happen, and I charged at the Hulk's back.

Just as he ripped out the catwalk and Natasha fell through the gaping hole, I crashed into him.

The Hulk turned around slowly and looked at me with such anger and malice. And he roared. It was loud; it was terrifying… It was primal.

I bared my teeth and barked sharply.

The Hulk grinned, showing his teeth.

I took a step back, afraid.

He ran at me and I dodged to the left, leading him away from Natasha's location.

The Hulk's fist smashes into the floor barely a few inches from where I was currently standing.

I took a chance and ran between his legs, nipping at his ankles as I passed through.

He let out another roar and turned to chase after me.

The ground shook with every step he took.

"Charlie, look out!"

Act first; ask questions later.

I took a hard right just as the Hulk, in an incredible burst of speed, ran forward, crashing into the wall and leaving a gaping hole behind him.

I turned around and ran back to where Natasha was.

We heard the Hulk roar again.

I changed back into human form; feeling thankful Tony had given me the suit earlier.

"We have to leave." I say, "Now."

We hear a crash and I look over to where it had come from. The Hulk was running towards us, the ground ripping up beneath him.

Natasha pulls out a gun and shoots a bullet through a pipe on the ceiling, and liquid nitrogen pours out of the pipe, hitting the Hulk in the face.

The Hulk doesn't even seem fazed. He rips up the pipe as if it was paper and turns his attention back to us.

I'm prepared to change back into my wolf form, but in the blink of an eye, the Hulk gets knocked over and thrown to the next room.

"What the hell was that?" I exclaim, surprised.

"Thor." Natasha says, "We have to go, help the others. Loki's people are on the helicarrier."

"We can't just leave Thor!" I protest.

"He's a God, Charlie." Natasha says, "We'll only get in his way."

Fury's voice cut off our disagreement.

"_It's Barton._" He says, through the earpiece, "_He took our systems. He's headed for the detention level. Does anybody copy?_"

Natasha takes in a shaky breath and touches her earpiece.

"This is Agent Romanoff. I copy." She lowers her hand and looks at me, "I'm doing this alone. Help. The. Others."

She hands me one of her guns and takes off.

I let out a frustrated growl before running in the direction of the bridge.

XXXXXX

At least, I was headed for the bridge. But at the corner of my eye, I spotted Barton's men hanging by the broken engine, shooting at someone.

My hands tighten around the gun I held and I raised it up, aiming, and pulling the trigger.

If you can't guess, I have terrible aim. And I missed.

But it was enough to catch some of their attention.

I went wolf and dodged the bullets they were shooting at me. I lunged for them.

When I was close enough, I swiped one with my large paw and I bit down hard on another's throat.

His warm blood pooled into my mouth and I gagged, letting go.

The one I had swiped fell from the helicarrier and was falling from the sky, plummeting toward the ground.

The body of the one I bit slumped to the ground, his hands clutching at his throat, trying to stem the bleeding.

I tried not to listen to his gurgling and focused on what was going on.

"Charlie!"

I look over, seeing Cap holding a gun and standing by a red lever.

"Tony's in the rotor's, trying to get the engine started."

I nod. I had heard their conversation through the earpiece, but didn't pay much attention. Who could split their focus while fighting the Hulk?

I could hear footsteps of more people approaching and I growled.

I turned to face them and some faltered. I guess the blood dripping from my snout was a little frightening.

They raised their guns and I dodged behind a fallen wall, measuring the time between each bullet that clanged against the metal I was hiding behind.

I heard them take a few steps forward and I sprang into action.

They were actually by the open hole, giving Cap the chance to shoot at them.

I ran forward, knocking a man to his feet and I trampled over him, my claws ripping through his flesh.

A bullet grazed over the top of my shoulder blade and I yelped before looking over at the man who shot at me and going for his throat.

I ignored the world, hearing bodies fall to the ground as Cap shot them. I kept my jaws locked, feeling the man thrash, pounding his fists against my body.

But I didn't budge. His punches grew weaker and weaker before he finally grew limp.

"_Cap, I need the lever!"_ Tony's voice came in through the earpiece.

"_I need a minute here!_" Was Steve's response.

I let go of the man and made my way outside. _Where was Steve?_

I caught a glimpse of him, hanging by a loose cable.

"_Lever. Now!"_ Tony says, his voice urgent.

Then came a sharp clanging through the earpiece and my eyes widened.

I leaped up onto the platform where the lever was, quickly changing back into human form and pulling it.

I look over the edge where Cap was slowly making his way back towards the railing.

I offered him my hand and I kept my other hand on the railing.

Steve reaches my hand and I pull him over the railing just as Tony flies out of the Engine, barely able to fly.

He heads over to us and lands softly.

"_Agent Coulson is down_."

My eyes widened as I listened. Tony and Cap stood still, doing the same.

"_Paramedics are on their way._"

"_They're here._" Fury said, "_They called it_."

He let out a very audible sigh, "_Briefing room, now."_

A lump formed in my throat and I looked at Steve and Tony, whose expressions mirrored mine.

XXXXXX

"These were in Phil Coulson's jacket." Fury pulls out Captain America trading cards. They were stained with blood and Fury tosses them in Steve's direction. "Guess he never did get you to sign them."

Steve picks them up and looks at it, his expression unreadable.

I was sitting next to Tony. Bruce, Thor, and Natasha were nowhere to be seen.

Agent Hill was standing by Director Fury, looking down at the ground.

"We're dead in the air up here. Our communications, location of the cube, Banner, Thor… I got nothing going for you, lost my one good eye. Maybe I had that coming." Fury continued.

We stayed quiet.

"Yes, we were going to build an arsenal with the Tesseract. I never put all my chips on that number though, because I was playing something even riskier. There was an idea," Fury says, "Stark knows this, called the Avengers Initiative. The idea was to bring a group of remarkable people, see if they could become something more. See if they could work together when we needed them to, to fight the battles that we never could. Phil Coulson died still believing in that idea, in heroes."

Tony stands and walks out the door, his stance tense.

I catch Steve's eye before looking back at Fury.

"Well," Director Fury says, "It's an old fashioned idea."

I stood up too, hesitating.

"There isn't anything wrong with old fashioned ideas, Director." I say quietly.

Fury looks me in the eye, waiting for me to continue.

"But everything has its limits."

I turn and walk away, a tear running slowly down my cheek.

I sought out Tony. I had a feeling he would be in the cell container.

I kept my head down. I didn't want to see the destruction around me, I didn't want to think about the men I had killed. I literally ripped out their throats and just kept on going.

I could still feel their blood running down my throat.

I tried so hard not to cry, but how can someone stop the inevitable. Even something as simple as tears.

My feet carried me to the cell container and I saw Tony staring at the hole in the middle of the floor.

"Tony?" I say quietly.

He doesn't turn around.

"Tony, are you alright?"

Tony's head moves, as if he wanted to turn around to look at me, but he doesn't.

I take in a shaky breath and take a step forward; and another, and another, and another until I was directly behind him.

Tony doesn't move, and neither do I.

A sob catches in my throat and I bury my face in his back.

"I don't like this, Tony."

Tony turns and wraps his arms around me. I cry into his chest, standing still.

"I don't like this." I say again, "I feel so guilty. I _killed_ today, Tony. I ripped their throats, I could taste their pain. _I killed_. I'm covered in their blood. How am I going to live with this?"

Tony pulls away, puts his hand under my chin and lifts my head.

I look into his eyes.

"You get used to it." He admits quietly, "The pain is never going to leave you, you'll always have your memories, you're never going to forget. But there comes a point, where the idea of killing doesn't bother you anymore."

I take a step back from Tony's embrace and look down the hole.

"Phil didn't deserve to die." I whisper, tears still streaming down my face.

"_No one_ deserves to die." Tony says, standing next to me and looking down the hole too, "There are just people who deserve more pain than others."

Steve walks in.

"Was he married?" Steve asks.

"No." Tony answers, "There was a cellist, I think."

"I'm sorry." Steve says, "He seemed like a good man."

"He was an idiot." Tony corrects.

"Why?" Steve asks, disbelief laced in his voice, "For believing?"

"He took on Loki alone. He was out of his league. He should have waited. He should have…" Tony's voice trailed off.

"There wasn't anything for him to do, Tony." I say, looking at him and then at Steve, "You have to do what you got to do. And taking on Loki alone was what he chose."

"Sometimes there isn't a way out, Tony." Steve says.

"Right." Tony says, walking away, turning his back on both Steve and I, "How did that work for him?"

"Is this the first time you've lost a soldier?"

Tony turns around sharply, "We are not soldiers! I am not marching to Fury's fife!"

"Neither am I! He's got the same blood on his hands as Loki does." Steve says, "Right now we've got to put that aside and get this done. Now Loki needs a power source, if we can put together a list-"

"He made it personal." Tony cut in, staring at the blood on the wall.

I stared at it too.

"Loki's tearing us apart." I say.

Tony whips around and looks at me, nodding.

"He had to conquer his greed, but he knows he has to take us out to win, right? That's what he wants. He wants to beat us and he wants to be seen doing it. He wants an audience." Tony was on a roll. I could practically see the gears turning in his mind, "Loki is a full-tilt diva. He wants flowers, he wants parades, he wants a monument built in the skies with his name plastered…"

The three of us perk up, realizing what Loki was up to.

"Son of a bitch." Tony mutters.

XXXXXX

We were in the Quinjet. By 'we' I mean Cap, Natasha, Clint – who I had just met a few minutes previously – and I. Tony was outside, flying in his suit, leading the way.

The ride was quiet, the atmosphere tense.

I rubbed my shoulder, my fingers finding the hole the bullet had left.

The hole, and the wound.

I winced, quickly pulling my hands away and glancing at the blood on my fingers.

I cursed under my breath, catching the attention of Steve.

He takes my hand in his and stares at the blood, raising an eyebrow.

I pull my hand away.

"It's nothing, don't worry about it." I say, trying to shrug it off.

"What's nothing?" Clint asked. He and Natasha were at the front, flying the jet.

"Charlie is bleeding, and she won't tell me why she's bleeding." Steve said, crossing his hands over his chest.

"It really is nothing!" I protest, "It's just a scratch."

Natasha stands from the co-pilot seat and comes over to us.

She looked me up and down before forcefully turning me around to examine my back.

Her hand runs over the wound on my shoulder and I inhale sharply.

"When were you planning on telling us you got shot?" She asked.

"You got shot?!" Steve asked, looking at me like I had grown two heads.

Natasha turns away and picks up a first aid kit.

"It really isn't a big deal, the bullet just grazed my shoulder!" I say again, trying to make light of the situation, "It'll heal, I'm a fast healer.

"Yes, but the bullet never left your shoulder." Natasha says, "You won't heal if it's still in your body."

I say nothing.

"When did you get shot?" Steve asked as Natasha opened up the kit and pulled out a few tools.

She orders me to sit down and I do, with her standing behind me.

I look up at Steve, amused, "You really have to ask that? With all those bullets that flew around back there?"

"This is going to hurt." Natasha warns.

Before I could take in a breath or even brace myself, there was an excruciating pain and I could feel the small bullet being taken from my shoulder.

I let out a little gasp in pain and my hands tighten into fists.

But Natasha worked quickly, and soon enough I couldn't feel the bullet anymore. Truth be told, I couldn't feel anything, just my blood that ran from the open wound.

"You know what you're doing right?" I ask between my clenched teeth, "Not that I'm doubting you, it's just that… Well, yeah, I'm doubting you."

"I've done this before." Natasha says, "Don't worry."

Soon enough, I could feel my skin begin to mend itself and the wound closed.

Natasha snapped the kit closed and walked back to the co-pilot seat.

"You do heal fast." Steve said, impressed.

I shrug, "Not as fast as you, I suppose. What with your super regenerative abilities and whatnot."

Steve laughs, "Been reading my file?"

I crack a smile, "Been reading everyone's file."

"Right there, I see Stark Tower." Clint said, ending my conversation with Steve.

I looked out the window, staring in awe at the tall tower.

"_I see Dr. Selvig... And Loki._" Tony said through the earpiece, "_I'm going in._"

"Tony." I say, lifting my hand up to my ear.

"_Yeah, Charlie?_"

I hesitate, before taking a deep breath.

"Be careful." I say.

I hear Tony chuckle.

"_Always am."_

I catch Steve's eye and I blush when I see him smiling at me knowingly.

"Got a crush, Agent McCallister?"

I glare at him, "Shut it, Grandpa."

**THERE'S CHAPTER 7 FOR YOU!**

**I was sobbing while I wrote the part where Charlie broke down. I partly blame the song I was listening to while writing. It's called "Youth" by Daughter. It was free on iTunes, so I thought "Eh, why not." So I downloaded it and it just fit into the moment, starting from when Fury was talking to them about Coulson and his death. **

**Thank you for reading my story you guys! I love you so so so so much.**

**Special thanks to: **

**Joldino-Sidestreaker, IronManRox2k12, Runyoucleverboyoswin for following.**

**And to wonderwoman1727 for fave-ing.**

**And to ThePurpleFlower for following and fave-ing both me and this story. I LOVE YOU OMFG THANK YOU SO MUCH.**

**And to Kuro Rotasu for fave-ing and following this story.**

**And to LureIn for fave-ing this story**

**And to xxxMadameMysteryxxx for reviewing: Thanks so much for the review! I'll be updating chapter 8 as soon as I can, but finals are in about three weeks, and I need to prepare for those, so I can't promise the exact date.**

**And to Hope06 for reviewing: I LOVE YOU SO MUCH YOU REVIEWED LIKE EVERY CHAPTER OMFG I LOVE YOU. **

**And to Twili Princess Hyrule Queen: Awwww it's alright! It's just that most of the time I don't know if my story is actually liked by readers and it really helps me as a writer to know what parts need work or what parts the readers like best. Thank you so much for following by the way! It means LOADS! I know what you mean! I was actually saying them out loud as I was typing them out. **

**THANKS YOU GUYS. LOVE YOU TONS.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I am not the owner of any of the characters in this story except for Charlie. She's a figment of my imagination and any resemblance to anyone is completely coincidental and non-intentional. I also do not own the plot, I'm just using bits and pieces of it including Charlie in the whole mix.**

**Previously:**

_"Be careful." I say._

_I hear Tony chuckle._

"Always am."

_I catch Steve's eye and I blush when I see him smiling at me knowingly._

_"Got a crush, Agent McCallister?"_

_I glare at him, "Shut it, Grandpa."_

**And now, Chapter 8!**

I stared in horror as hundreds and then thousands of Chitauri poured from the open portal.

"Stark," Natasha says, holding her hand up to her earpiece, "We're heading north east."

"_What, did you stop for drive thru_?" Tony says, sarcastically, "_Swing up Park, I'm going to lay them out for you." _

Natasha turned to look at us, "You two best hold on to something, it's about to get rough."

Steve and I shared a look before heading on opposite sides of the Quinjet and gripping on to the netting on the walls tightly.

Natasha wasn't kidding.

Clint swooped in and out, weaving between Chitauri as Natasha fired at them.

We swerve to the left and my head gets knocked onto the hard metal wall.

I groan, "A little warning would've been great, Clint."

He chuckles, "Sorry, about that."

My free hand comes up to rub at the sore spot on my head, but the pain was already fading away.

I look out the front window in time to see Loki aim his scepter toward us. We get hit and we spiral towards the ground.

"Don't let go!" Natasha shouts.

Steve and I are lifted from the floor and we're hanging on to the netting with all we had, and then we crash into the street.

There is a moment of silence.

"Is everyone alright?" Steve asked.

"Never better. This day is just downright fabulous." I mutter through gritted teeth, my hand coming up to my head again.

Steve offers his hand to me, which I gratefully take.

He pulls me to my feet before heading to Natasha and Clint to make sure everyone was fine.

I stare at my hand and frown. The pointer finger of my right hand was bent and angled towards the ceiling. I tried to move it, but it didn't.

I let out a frustrated sigh, "Natasha, you wouldn't happen to know how to fix dislocated fingers, would you?"

The trio looks over to me and I lift up my right hand.

"I guess I held on a little too tight." I say, sheepishly.

Natasha comes to me and gingerly takes my hand in hers.

"This will hurt." She warns.

"After what you've done earlier, I'm pretty sure I can handle it."

In one fluid motion, Natasha pops my finger back in its place and I wince.

"You weren't kidding." I say, closing my fingers into a fist before opening them up again.

The ramp behinds us opens up and I turn to face it, taking in a deep breath before leaving the Quinjet with the others.

I stared up at the chaos raining down on the city. A deep roar catches our attention and we stare at the portal.

A Chitauri Leviathan flies out and over us. Chitauri soldiers leap off the back of the Leviathan and attach themselves to the sides of the buildings and sliding down. A few crash through the windows and we could hear firing and screams from inside.

"Stark, are you seeing this?" Steve asked, talking to Tony.

"_I'm seeing, still working on believing_." Tony replied, "_Thor is battling out Loki. Where's Banner? Has he shown up yet?"_

"Banner?" Steve asked, confused.

"_Just keep me posted._" Tony said, and then, "_Jarvis, find me a soft spot."_

The rest of us run up the road and hide behind a few upturned taxis. An explosion catches our attention and I look up. Loki was riding on a flying chariot, leading a bunch of Chitauri behind him, blowing up whatever he could with his scepter.

Civilians run scared from the chaos and head in our direction.

Captain America peeks over the bridge, "Those people need assistance down there."

I shift into my wolf form when I hear the Chitauri soldiers land.

"We got this. It's good." Natasha said, pulling out two pistols and firing, "You and Accalia go."

Captain America looks over at Clint.

"You think you can hold them off?" He asks.

"Captain," Hawkeye says, "It would be my genuine pleasure."

Hawkeye shoots an arrow at a soldier.

"Accalia, follow me." He says, jumping off the bridge.

I leap off the bridge, following him. He and I weave in and out of the parked cars, making our way towards the policemen firing at the flying chariots.

I run ahead of Steve, catching a Chitauri off guard before ripping his throat open and pushing him away with my paws.

Steve comes in and jumps in front of them on top of a car, while I stay on the ground, looking at the cops who were staring at us as if we had just come out of a circus.

"I need men in these buildings. There are people inside that can run into the line of fire." Captain American started, "You take them through the basement or through the subway. You keep them off the streets. I need a perimeter as far back as 39th."

The Police Sergeant crossed his arms over his chest, "Why the hell should I take orders from you?"

I growl at him when an explosion comes from behind Cap. He turns around quickly, raising his shield to block the energy blast. Two soldiers attack and I sit on my haunches, watching in amusement as Cap fights them off easily.

The sergeant quickly turns to his officers, repeating orders Cap had given him.

I laughed, but it came out as a very strange sounding bark. The officers nearest to me looked at me in fear and I winked at them.

Their jaws dropped and I laughed again.

"Accalia, stop fooling around." Steve said, but he was smiling. "Forgive her, she's new."

I rolled my eyes and Cap and I ran from the officers, heading back to Hawkeye and Black Widow.

On the way, I spot a child and her mother cowering underneath a table.

I shift to human and stop Steve, "You go ahead; I'll catch up. I have something to do. I'll only take a minute."

He nods and runs off. I turn back into my four-legged self and throw myself into the fray, fighting off the three soldiers who were making their way towards the mother and her child.

I ducked as one lunged for me and I bit down on his leg, before pulling his leg out of his socket. Another grabs my tail and I turn to growl at him. I stand on my hind legs and I fall on top of him, one of my paws going through his helmet and crushing his skull.

The last one watches me and we turn in a circle. I bare my teeth, and he aims for me.

Just as he pulls the trigger, I leap onto the air and I shove the gun out of the way. It clatters to the street and I give the soldier a wolfish grin.

Before he could run off, I went for his throat and crushed his neck with my teeth.

I shifted to my human form and ran to the woman.

"Come on." I say, "Follow me."

The child crawls out, followed by her mother. The woman picks up the little girl and cradles the girl to her chest.

I look to the nearest building and spot two Chitauri making their way toward us.

I glance at the woman, "I'm not a very good fighter in this form… Actually I'm terrible in this form. When I shift, I want you to run as fast as you can into that building."

I point to the nearest skyscraper.

"Make your way to a basement, just keep off the streets."

The woman nods, despite the fear that I could see in her eyes.

The little girl turns to look at me, her black hair falling over her face. I smile softly at her.

"Hey there."

She says nothing.

"Everything is going to be okay." I say softly, still smiling, "Don't look at whatever happens, okay?"

She nods.

My eyes flashed and I shifted, meeting the two soldiers half way.

I could see the woman run for the building and I turned my attention back to the soldiers.

I ducked beneath one's legs and the other turns to try and stab me.

As fast as I could, I jumped into the air, somersaulting so that I could tear the head off the one I had crawled under.

His head flew from his body and I landed on my feet.

A stabbing pain shot through my body and I looked at the other one.

I looked at the handle of the knife that was sticking to my back like it had been glued there. I was very aware of the cold, sharp metal inside my body.

Anger welled up in me and I knocked him to the ground. He lay on his back looking up at me and I bit into his neck, slowly before ripping half of it from his body as slow as I could.

The Chitauri thrashed beneath me and I leapt off him.

I turned to check if the woman had made it safely, and thankfully she wasn't in the street.

I saw dots in my vision but I tried shaking it off.

I forced myself to run to where I knew the others were. My warm blood ran down my fur and I began to breathe heavily.

I see them in the distance and watch as lightning strikes down from the sky and Thor landed shortly afterward. I ran forward, limping. I hid behind a taxi, and whimpered.

I let out a small howl, catching the attention of Natasha who was nearest.

She leaped over the taxi and crouched down next to me.

"How many times are you going to get hurt today?" She asked, her fingers gripping the handle and ripping it from my body. I yelped in pain. And my eyes closed shut.

Unconsciously, I turned back into my human form and I groaned.

"Damn Chitauri caught me when I wasn't looking." I said, my voice faint, "I would've taken it out myself, but I couldn't while I was in wolf form. And shifting with that knife in me would not have helped." I sit up. "But thank you, for all three times that you've helped me today."

She nods before standing and offering her hand. I stand up with her help, grateful that the onslaught of the Chitauri Soldiers had stopped even just for a few seconds.

"What happened to you?" Clint asked, staring at the blood.

I shrugged, "Stab wound."

"Shot and stabbed, all on the same day." Clint says, smiling, "Today must be on your list of top ten best days."

I nod sarcastically, "Oh totally, I'm enjoying this while it lasts. Who knows when I get to come near death twice in one day?"

The noise of a motor stops our conversation and the five of us turn around.

Bruce gets off a small motorcycle and he looks around.

"So, this all seems horrible." He says, breaking the silence.

"I've seen worse." Natasha says, calmly.

"Sorry." Bruce says, looking at both Natasha and me.

"No." I say, "We could use a little worse."

"Stark, we got him." Steve said, talking to Tony.

"_Banner?_"

"Just like you said."

"_Then tell him to suit up._" Tony said, "_I'm bringing the party to you._"

We look up, getting ready for whatever it was Tony was leading in our direction.

The Chitauri Leviathan follows directly behind him.

"I… I don't see how that's a party." Natasha says.

Tony swoops down towards the street, flying fast towards us, the Leviathan following every movement.

"Dr. Banner. Now might be a really good time for you to get angry." Steve said, looking at Bruce.

Bruce walks towards the monster.

"That's my secret, Captain." He says, "I'm always angry."

His body changes before our eyes. It starts to swell and stretch and harden. Green pigments show up all over his body, covering his entire being.

When the Leviathan gets close enough, the Hulk raises his fist and punches down right on the nose of the Leviathan. The creature flips over, and Tony shoots a rocket in the body of the Leviathan, and it explodes, pieces of itself raining down on us.

We hear another roar and look up at the portal; thousands more of Chitauri Soldiers fly out, followed by even more Chitauri Leviathans.

I let out a breath, "We just can't catch a break today, can we?"

I shift to my wolf form and look at the portal, already feeling tired straight through my bones.

"_Call it, Cap_." Tony said.

"Alright, listen up. Until we close that portal up there, we're going to use containment." Captain said, turning to us, "Barton, I want you on that roof, eyes on everything. Call out patterns and strays. Stark, you got the perimeter. Anything gets more than three blocks out, you turn it back or you turn it to ash."

Hawkeye turns to look at Tony.

"Wanna give me a lift?" He asks.

"Right." Tony says, "Better clench up, Legolas." Tony takes Clint and flies off in amazing speed towards the top of the building.

"Thor, you've got to try and bottleneck that portal. Slow them down. You've got the lightning, light the bastards up."

Thor nods once, swinging his hammer in a circle and then flying off.

Cap turns to me and tash and says, "The three of us, we stay here on the ground, keep the fighting here."

He looks up at Hulk, "And Hulk."

The Hulk turns to him and lets out a breath.

"Smash." Cap says.

The Hulk grins and leaps, soaring to the nearest building and smashing up a bunch of Chitauri soldiers.

What happened next was a blur. I lost count of how many Chitauri soldiers I had taken down. The adrenalin rush was long gone, and exhaustion was beginning to settle in.

I was covered in dirt and grime, and so were Natasha and the Cap.

"Captain, none of this is going to mean a thing if we don't close that portal." Natasha said. Even her voice sounded tired.

I agreed, but I didn't want to waste any energy shifting just to get my voice heard, it was a lot more practical to stay in wolf form and keep on fighting.

"Our biggest guns couldn't touch it." Captain said, looking at her.

I ripped through another soldier's throat and I limped over to where the two were talking.

"Maybe it isn't about guns." Natasha says, gesturing towards the flying chariots.

"If you want to get up there, you're going to need a ride." Captain replies.

"I got a ride." Natasha says, backing up. "I could use a lift though."

Captain got the message and he angled his shield.

"Are you sure about this?"

"Yeah." Natasha says, shrugging, "It's going to be fun."

I looked at the pair. In the blink of an eye, Natasha ran forward at Cap, who used his shield to throw her up in the air. She twists, grabbing hold of one of the chariots. In a matter of seconds, she takes control of the chariot and flies away. Tony comes by her, shooting at any riders coming near her and then turns to us, holding up his hand.

Cap raises his shield again and Tony shoots at the shield.

Cap uses it as a reflection beam and takes down nearby Chitauri soldiers.

One had managed to sneak up on me, but I took him down with the usual lunge-at-him-and-tear-off-throat technique.

"_Captain, the bank on 42__nd__ past Madison, they caught a lot of civilians there._" Hawkeyes said.

Cap and I share a look before sprinting off.

"Accalia, catch their attention, I'm going to go in directly afterwards and get them while their attention is on you."

I nod once and sprint ahead, ignoring the ache in my bones.

I sneak in quietly through the entrance, studying the scene before me.

Dozens of civilians are trapped inside, and three Chitauri Soldiers are pointing their weapons at them. One taps away at something and I hear a beep. A bomb.

I bark at them and the three look towards me.

They aim their weapons and I dodge at the last minute, running towards the soldier with the bomb. Cap jumps in through the window and throws his shield towards the bomber.

The bomb flies from the bomber's hands and falls down towards the crowd, beeping faster and faster.

My eyes widened and I leaped off the edge, hoping everyone would clear off.

I could hear Cap fighting off the two remaining Chitauri. I kept my eyes on the bomb. I shift to my human form and pick it up.

I look over at Cap just as he kicks off the last standing soldier.

"Cap!" I shout.

He turns to look at me and I toss it to him, he catches it in the air and throws it out the broken window.

"Everyone! Clear out!" Cap shouts. Cap ducks behind his shield and everyone below move away from the window.

We hear and explosion and Cap runs out of the building.

"Is everyone okay?" I ask.

The crowd looks at me warily.

I sigh, "Look, I'm not going to hurt you."

"But you turn into a wolf!" A voice shouted out through the crowd.

"Leave it to humanity to be rescued from death and then turn their backs on the heroes that saved them." I say in response.

Only silence answers me and I shift back into a wolf.

I jump onto a table and spring up onto the ledge before bounding off.

I run after Captain, watching firemen and policemen arrive on scene to get the civilians out of the building. I watch them, not being able to help the feeling of rejection creep into me.

A few of them looked my way, but I ran off, not wanting to see them give me looks of fear.

I saw Cap fighting off a few Chitauri and I joined him.

"You're late." He says, picking one up and throwing him against a concrete wall.

I snorted, nipping at another. Cap punches the one I was fighting and the Chitauri gets knocked out.

"Are you alright?" He asks me.

I roll my eyes.

"No seriously, are you okay?" He asks again, staring straight into my eyes.

I don't move, but I look away and stare into the ground.

"I heard what was said." He admits.

I don't look up.

"They're going to warm up to the idea of heroes at some point." He says, "It'll be okay."

I look up at him wearily.

"_Stark, you hearing me?_"

Director Fury? I frowned as well as a wolf could.

_"We have a missile headed straight for the city."_

What?!

"_How long?_" Replied Tony.

"_Three minutes, at best._" Fury answered, "_Stay low and wipe out the missile_."

I look up into the sky just as Tony flies off.

Thor lands next to us, followed by maybe ten Chitauri soldiers.

I tear my eyes off of Tony's flying form and focus on the battle in front of me.

Captain America and Thor battle side by side, and I stay between them a little behind.

The two split off, attacking Chitauri on different sides and I spring up from behind to attack the middle.

Thor uses his hammer and hits a taxi. It rolls over to us and squashes the remaining Chitauri.

"_I can close it! Can anybody hear me? I can shut the portal down!"_ Natasha said through the earpiece.

"Do it!" Cap said.

"_No, wait!"_ Tony said, cutting in.

"Stark, these things are still coming!" Captain said, frustrated.

"_I've got a nuke coming in, it's going to blow in less than a minute." _Tony answered, "_And I know just where to put it._"

My eyes widened. He didn't mean what I think he means, does he?

"Stark, you know that's a one-way trip, right?" Captain said.

I shifted back into my human form.

"Tony?" I say, trying not to make my voice crack.

"_Hey, Charlie._" He says, his voice quiet.

A lump swells at my throat and I say nothing.

"_You better not be crying right now._" He says.

A tear runs down my face.

"No." I say, "I'm not crying."

"_Good, because I hate seeing you cry._" He says, _"You should always keep smiling. You're beautiful when you smile."_

I say nothing again.

"_Promise me, Charlie."_ Tony says, his voice serious, "_That if I don't come back, you'll-"_

"Stop." I interrupted, "Tony, you're going to come back. You're going to come back and everything will be fine."

I feel Cap's hand on my shoulder.

"_And then I'll see you naked?_" Tony joked, but his voice was tense, as if he was crying himself.

I forced myself to laugh.

"You're so perverted, Stark."

"_Only for you, Charlie_." He says, "_I have to tell you something_."

I watch him as he rises up towards the portal, guiding the nuke.

"Yeah?"

"_I really really-_"

And this voice gets cut off as he flies inside the portal.

A sob racks through me.

"Tony?"

But I could only hear static through the other end.

"Tony?!" I called, "Tony!"

I fell to my knees, tearing my eyes from the sight of the portal and closing them.

"Close it." Cap said.

I don't move, realizing that must have been the last conversation I had with the man I loved. My bottom lip trembles and a shudder runs down my spine.

All is quiet. There is no movement. And then suddenly:

"Son of a gun!"

I look up, seeing a small figure falling from the sky.

"He isn't slowing down." I say, in horror.

Thor swings Mjolnir around, prepared to fly.

But the Hulk comes in and catches Tony in mid-air, the pair crashing into a building and then sliding down to the ground.

The Hulk throws Tony off him, and Thor, the Cap, and I run to him.

I kneel by his side and Thor rips off Tony's helmet.

Tony's eyes were closed, the corners slightly damp.

A fresh set of tears runs down my face and I didn't bother wiping them off. The Hulk lets out a roar and Tony's eyes snap open, taking in a deep breath.

"What the hell? What just happened? Please tell me nobody kissed me." He catches my eye, "Except you, if you kissed me, I would not mind."

"You son of bitch, Tony." I said through my tears. "I thought you were dead."

He cracks a smile, "I'm not going to die yet. I haven't had the chance to spend my life with you yet."

I bent down to hug him.

"You're such a prick, Stark." I say, looking into his eyes before planting a soft kiss on his lips.

"Ah, but you love me regardless." He said, smiling.

XXXXXX

**I just want to say, that even if Loki is defeated, this story is nowhere near over.**

**Oh, and yes, I cried while I wrote this. **

**Thanks to Reedy-Girl for faveing and following.**

**Thanks to tiarna13 for faveing and following.**

**Thanks to Alinthrada GamerGirl, animedancin13, and It199798 for following.**

**Thank you to Hope06 for reviewing: You know, just because you said that, I feel like writing an alternate to the story where Coulson lives… AND I SHALL POST IT WHEN IT'S PERFECT. It's going to take me a while though, but I really will put it up, I promise.**

**Thank you everyone! **


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I am not the owner of any of the characters in this story except for Charlie. She's a figment of my imagination and any resemblance to anyone is completely coincidental and non-intentional. I also do not own the plot, I'm just using bits and pieces of it including Charlie in the whole mix.**

**Previously:**

"_You son of bitch, Tony." I said through my tears. "I thought you were dead."_

_He cracks a smile, "I'm not going to die yet. I haven't had the chance to spend my life with you yet."_

_I bent down to hug him._

"_You're such a prick, Stark." I say, looking into his eyes before planting a soft kiss on his lips._

"_Ah, but you love me regardless." He said, smiling._

**Before I begin, I just wanted to apologise for taking so long to update. The family dog ate up the charger to my laptop and I had to wait for the charger to come in the mail, which, by the way, cost me $40 to replace. And I was going to update on my tablet, but it seems as if my dog has taken a liking to wires lately. He ate the charger for that, too. And my headphones… And my sister's headphones… And my mom's headphones. Let's not forget my Gameboy charger he chewed up two weeks ago. /sigh and this is the reason why I'm broke.**

**I'm going to make this chapter as long as I can to make up for the days I've gone missing. And I know you guys will probably hate me, but I have an idea for this. So just please play along. **

**Anywayyyyy, here's Chapter 9!**

I was sitting in the living room at Stark Tower, watching television.

Every news station was covering what had just happened.

"_Superheroes? In New York?_" An old man scoffed at the idea, "_Give me a break!_"

"Where was he the whole day?" I mused aloud.

I switched channels, the news station I was watching showing a press conference with Senator Boynton.

"_These so called heroes have to be held responsible for the destruction done to the city. This was their fight."_ He said, looking around at the crowd confidently, "_Where are they now?_"

"Ha!" I scoffed, "Say that the next time we save your ass, you prick."

I changed the channel again, this time showing a waitress. I sat up. She was at the bank.

"_What? That this was somehow their fault?_" She shook her head, "_Captain America and the Wolf-Girl saved my life. Saved all of our lives. Wherever the two are… Wherever any of them are, I just want to say thank you."_

I turned the TV off and let out a breath.

"How long are you going to stand there watching me, Tony?"

I heard him move.

"And here I thought I was being sneaky."

He came up from behind me and sat on the couch next to me.

"Oh, should I have pretended not to notice you?" I joked.

He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into his chest.

"It wouldn't hurt my ego if you did." He muttered in my ear.

I shivered.

"Your ego is big enough." I responded, "It wouldn't hurt if it was taken down a peg either."

His lips pressed against my neck softly.

"Is that what you're planning?"

He left a trail of kisses on my neck and I turned in his arms to face him.

"It was, but I seem to have lost my train of thought." I said, my voice low, "I'm planning something else now."

"And what would that be?" He asked, his voice husky.

"I'll show you." I whispered, before lowering my face and planting my lips to his.

XXXXXX

We were all standing in a blocked area, saying farewell to Thor. Loki was behind him, handcuffed and muzzled.

I gave Thor a hug goodbye.

"I'm going to miss you, Thor." I said after we pulled away.

"And I will miss you, lycan." He ruffled my hair and moved on to the next person.

I caught Loki's eye and I stared at him.

His eyes twinkled and I shivered, forcing myself to look away.

I reached for Tony's hand and he looked back at me, smiling softly.

I snuggled into his warmth and watched as Banner takes the Tesseract and places it inside a glass tube that Thor was holding.

The tube clicks in place and Thor gives the other end to Loki who takes it.

With one last smile, the two Gods vanish into the energy beam.

We stayed in silence and then as a group let out one collective breath.

I hugged Natasha first.

"This is it, huh?" I said, pulling away, "Goodbye?"

She nods, "This is goodbye. But we'll see each other again."

I smiled, "I never thanked you for that day. Back at my parent's house I mean. If you guys hadn't come to take me, I'd still be there."

She hugged me again, "And I never thanked you for giving me hope that we'll get Clint back."

I grinned, "Speaking of Clint…"

I turned and pulled Clint into a hug.

"Take care of her, you hear?" I say, teasing him.

"Yes ma'am." He says, then looks at her lovingly, "With all my life."

I smile when I catch the blush in Natasha's face.

I get to Steve next and I hug his waist, considering he was way taller than I was.

"Goodbye, Cap." I say. I pulled away and looked up at him.

"Goodbye, Charlie." He says, smiling. "Take care of yourself."

"You too." I respond, grinning, "Keep in touch, Grandpa."

He laughs, "Oh, of course I will. Once I figure out how that portable telephone you gave me works."

I shake my head and smile, "Cap, it's called a cellphone. You'll learn how to use it pretty quickly."

"I hope so."

Clint and Natasha get into the back of SHIELD cars and Steve gets on his Harley.

I climb into the back of Tony's sports car, as Bruce was sitting in the passenger seat.

"You excited you get to play with Tony's toys, Bruce?" I tease.

He turns to look at me and grins, "Oh yeah. It's going to be really fun messing with Jarvis. I mean, think of all the new things I could make Jarvis do. Like erase all of Tony's AC/DC songs with modern day crappy pop songs."

Tony doesn't stop driving. He turns his head to stare at Bruce, never once looking back at the road.

"Uh. Tony?" I say, "You might want to keep your eyes on the road."

"As soon as Bruce takes it back." He said, glaring at Bruce.

"I take it back!" Bruce said, fighting a smile, "Just please try and make sure we don't get killed."

Tony scoffs and looks back at the road.

"Cowards." He mutters.

XXXXXX

Everything was still in shambles, the windows were broken and the floor was cracked. There were holes in the walls, and the furniture was in pieces.

"It's not much right now," Tony said to Bruce as we walked inside, "But we're working on getting it remodeled and fixed."

Tony pointed to the granite counter.

"That is – or was the bar, right next to it is what's left of the kitchen." Tony continued, "This is the living room, and down that hallway are the bedrooms and down those stairs are the lab and the garage."

Bruce nodded once, "Thank you so much for this Tony."

Tony grinned, "Hey, mi casa es su casa. Except for my bedroom. You can have whatever you want, all you have to do is ask."

"In that case," Bruce said, "I just wanted to make sure that my bedroom was far away from yours and Charlie's. I don't want to hear the two of you going at it like rabbits. Or wolves, I should say."

I turned red, "Bruce!"

Tony laughed, "Don't act like we haven't _fondued_ already, Charlie."

"Tony!"

"So you have?" Bruce teased.

"Oh, yeah." Tony said, "Multiple times."

"Tony! We have not!" I protested, "Bruce, it was just one time, I swear!"

"Enjoying yourself there, Tony?" Bruce said, grinning.

I buried my face in my hands, "Oh God, the two of you are terrible."

"She's amazing." Tony said, winking. Bruce laughed.

My jaw dropped, "Tony! Jesus, stop!"

"Oh, and by the way, Jarvis, say hi!" Tony said, completely ignoring me.

"_Hello, sir._" Jarvis said.

Bruce looked up at the ceiling, "Hey, Jarvis. It's nice to… meet you."

"_Likewise, sir._" Jarvis replied, "_Mr. Stark has been so excited for your arrival_. _He wouldn't stop talking about you, sir._"

Bruce looked at Tony and smiled, "Is that so, Jarvis?"

"Okay, Jarvis, that's enough." Tony said, glaring up at the ceiling.

I laughed, "Way to go, Jarvis. This is why I like you."

"_Thank you, Ms. MacCallister_." Jarvis responded, "_I like you too, although, I'm quite certain Mr. Stark is more fond of you than any other_."

Bruce and I laughed and Tony huffed.

"That's enough, Jarvis. Thank you." Tony said.

"_You're welcome, sir_."

I looked at Bruce, "Isn't Jarvis just the best?"

He nods and glances at Tony, "Oh, totally. Makes you wonder what else he knows about Tony."

"_I am very knowledgeable about Mr. Stark._" Jarvis said.

"Okay, let's cut this conversation short. Jarvis, if you want that update, stop talking." Tony threatened.

Jarvis hesitated, "_Yes, sir. I apologise, sir_."

I pouted, "Aw, Tony you're ruining all the fun!"

He ignored me, "Could you call someone up here to clean up this mess, Jarvis? And call up Pepper while you're at it."

"_I have already called them, sir, they are on their way_."

"Thanks, Jarvis."

XXXXXX

_I was running through a forest. Not just any forest, THE forest… The one I thought I would never see again; the forest from my home._

_I was tripping over tree roots, and branches scratched at my legs, arms and face. Blood dripped down from the wounds, falling down to the forest floor._

_A growl stopped me and I looked around in fear._

"_There is nowhere left to run, Charlie."_

_I stayed silent, tense, scared._

_I saw two unwavering eyes looking at me from the shadows._

"_You are trapped."_

_My jaw clenched and my fists tightened, "Who are you?"_

_A laugh. It was musical but it sent shivers down my spine._

_The figure rushed forward and held me in its arms._

"_You know perfectly well who I am." The figure whispered in my ear._

My eyes snapped open and I sat up from the bed.

A scream was trapped in my throat and I covered my hand with my mouth to keep it from escaping.

I looked over to the other side of the bed, looking for Tony, only to find it empty.

My heartbeat rang in my ears and the adrenalin coursed through me.

I took deep breaths and threw off the covers, getting up from the bed and walking to the door.

I picked up my robe, shuffling to put it on and then leaving the room.

I closed my eyes and concentrated hard.

_Where was Tony?_

I tiptoed along the hallway, passing by empty guest bedrooms when I heard it.

Noises, whispers in the night; a quiet moan.

My eyes widened and I pressed my ear to the door.

"Oh God, Tony."

I held my breath. Pepper? And _Tony?_

I shook my head and rushed back to our bedroom.

I collapsed into the bed and stared up at the ceiling.

"Jarvis? Is Tony with Pepper?"

"_I'm afraid so, Ms. MacCallister."_

I bit my lip and my throat burned.

"Has he…" My voice broke and I cleared my throat, "Has he been there long?"

"_Yes… He has, Ms. MacCallister._"

I nod slowly.

"Has their relationship been going on long?"

There was a pause and Jarvis didn't answer.

"Jarvis?" I said looking at the ceiling, "Has it been going on long?"

"_Yes, Ms. MacCallister."_

"Thank you, Jarvis."

I ran a hand through my hair and used the other to wipe at the tears threatening to spill from my eyes.

I got off the bed and headed to the walk-in closet, picking up the few belongings I had on the way.

I grabbed my backpack from the back of one of the racks and folded a few shirts and jeans inside.

I walked back to the bedroom, pulling out the notepad and pen Tony had inside the drawer of the bedside cabinet.

'_Tony_,' I wrote, '_I know about everything. What we had was good while it lasted. I suppose it was stupid of me to think it could've gone farther… I wish you and Pep the best of luck. Good bye, Charlotte.'_

I left it on the counter.

"Jarvis, could you make sure that Tony reads this?" I asked, "And could you call Natasha and tell her not to tell Tony about where my house is?"

"_Of course, Ms. MacCallister._"

"Goodbye, Jarvis, you're the best."

"_Farewell, Ms. MacCallister."_ He replied in his soft voice.

XXXXXX

My hood was up as I stared at the place I used to call home. It had been about six months since my parents last saw me, and I admit I was nervous. What if they had moved away?

I bit my lip and I hesitantly walked up to the front door.

I swallowed and I stared at the knocker, debating whether or not to knock, when it swung open.

My father stood there, his shock apparent in his face.

My mouth opened, and then closed.

"Hi, dad."

He gathered me into a hug and I froze, my eyes widening.

"Don't you dare leave us like that again, Charlotte." He muttered. "Regardless if the world needs you or not."

I wrapped my arms around his torso and buried my head into his chest, "I'm sorry."

"Jack, who's at the door?" My mother's voice came.

I pulled away from my father's embrace and looked behind him.

"Hey, mom."

She stared at me with wide eyes.

"Charlie?" Her voice was quiet, as if she couldn't believe I was standing before her.

I smiled in response. She took a small step forward before running toward me and hugging the air out of me.

She pulled away and smiled at me, tears streaming down her face.

"My little girl. My beautiful, brave little girl."

XXXXXX

We were sitting in the living room. I had explained what I could. I told them about my powers, and about the Avengers Initiative. I told them what I had done, and that if the world needed me again, I had to go.

They took everything fairly well, except of course, when I told them there was a high chance I'd leave again.

"So how has everything been since I left?" I asked, getting comfortable on the couch. "Anything new?"

Mom perked up, as if she had just remembered something.

"Your acceptance letters came in the mail." She said, her eyes twinkling.

"Acceptance?" I asked, shocked, "You mean I got in?!"

Dad and her laughed.

"You did, Charlie. In both Yale and Harvard."

I blinked, "Are you serious?"

They nod.

"Yes, dear." Mom replied, "The letters are up in your bedroom."

My heart fell, "But term started three months ago. They won't take me in now."

"Just call them." My dad said, "Give it a shot, the worst they could say is no."

I bit my lip.

"Go on," He said, smiling, "Go on upstairs and call the school you wish to attend."

I peeled myself off the couch and ran up the stairs, grabbing the two letters off my desk.

I sat down on my bed and stared at the logos of the two schools.

Harvard? Or Yale?

I closed my eyes, shuffled the envelopes around and placed my finger on a random one.

I opened my eyes. Harvard.

I pulled out my cellphone and dialed the admissions office.

Three rings when a lady finally picked up.

"_Thank you for calling Harvard University Admissions Office, my name is Claire, how can I help you?"_

"Hey Claire. My name is Charlotte MacCallister, and I got accepted into Harvard. The thing is, I was out of the country for the past 6 months and only just got my acceptance letter. I was wondering… Is there still a spot for me at the school?" I asked, crossing my fingers.

"_Give me one minute, Ms. MacCallister, I'll pull up your file and check._"

She put me on hold, a tune playing in the place of her voice. Three minutes passed by when she finally got back on the line.

"_Ms. MacCallister, I just checked your file and I called up the Chairman and Dean. You are permitted to enroll in our school, but you will be under probation." _She said and my heart leaped to my throat, "_What this means is that your GPA has to be above a 3.7 at all times for 6 months. Your leaving rights, which is what the school gives its students to go off campus, will be revoked until the 6 month probation period has passed. You are expected on campus by early February, in time for the spring semester."_

February, that was 10 months away! But I'll take what I can get, this is HARVARD after all.

"Oh my God." I said, "Thank you, so much!"

Her laughter came through the other line, "_You're welcome, Ms. MacCallister. Have a good day._"

The line clicked and I counted to ten.

Then I screamed.

I ran down the stairs and jumped up and down.

"I'm going to Harvard!" I shouted at my parents.

The jumped off the couch and hugged me.

I grinned.

_I'm going to Harvard._

**Please don't kill me. Tony will be back in the picture soon. Okay no, not really, but I know what I'm doing.**

**Thank you for reading!**

**Thank you to:**

**My new followers, MusicxxxFreak, LibertyBelle2049, ViolettiKissa, Goddess of Mischief x passion, Flashfox Tyrell05, SillyZesty, lollyg17, InTheWrongEra, Girloveshugs, DancingDeadGirl.**

**The people who favorited, ViolettiKissa, Goddess of Mischief x Passion, Flashfox Tyrell05, BloodyRose1312, Girloveshugs, DrAnime203, Katmadwoman.**

**Special shoutout to Girloveshugs for favoriting and following me as an author. It means sooooo much to me, thank you! :)**

**The people who reviewed:**

**Twili Princess Hyrule Queen: It's okay :) Thank you for reviewing! OF COURSE! This story is far from over ;D**

**Hope06: I KNOW! I saw the trailers. I'm so bloody excited!**

**xxxMadameMysteryxxx: Thank you! I'm sorry I couldn't update as soon as I wanted, but here it is!**

**tiarna13: Yay! I'm glad you giggled.**

**lollyg17: Thank you! Here it is :)**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I am not the owner of any of the characters in this story except for Charlie. She's a figment of my imagination and any resemblance to anyone is completely coincidental and non-intentional. I also do not own the plot, I'm just using bits and pieces of it including Charlie in the whole mix.**

**Previously:**

_The line clicked and I counted to ten._

_Then I screamed._

_I ran down the stairs and jumped up and down._

"_I'm going to Harvard!" I shouted at my parents._

_The jumped off the couch and hugged me._

_I grinned._

I'm going to Harvard.

**Okay, so this chapter is going to go kinda fast. But that's only because it's going to be boring if I don't do the time lapses. **

**ANYWAY I WAS AT VEGAS FOR THE WEEKEND, AND I WALKED THE STRIP AND I SWEAR TO GOD WHILE WE WERE CROSSING THE STREET I SAW ED SHEERAN BUT I COULDN'T DO ANYTHING BECAUSE WE WERE CROSSING THE INTERSECTION GOING IN OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS AND UGHHHHH I FEEL LIKE SUCH A DUNCE :(**

**Anyway, I'm gonna go sulk.**

**And now, Chapter 10!**

All it takes is one minute, one little mistake, one decision, and your whole world could change.

I stared down at the three pregnancy tests I held in my hands. The bright red pluses stared back at me.

I let out a breath of air and sat down on the toilet.

It had been three months since that time with Tony, and that one action had just changed the course of my future.

I ran a hand through my hair and l looked up at the ceiling.

What am I going to do?

One thing was for sure… I had to tell my parents.

I pulled out my cellphone from my pocket and dialed Natasha's number. I had memorized her number by heart, considering she and I kept in touch a lot. She kept me up to date with what was happening in the world and I told her about what was happening with me.

Three rings, and she answered the call.

"_Hey there, Charlie Banana._" Don't ask me why she called me that, I don't know. "_How's everything?_"

"I'm pregnant." I said, bluntly. I decided that it was better to just spill the beans instead of beating around the bush with nonsense pleasantries.

"_What?_"

I sighed, "I'm pregnant, Tash."

"_Tony?"_

"Yeah," I replied, quietly, "Tony."

She paused, and I waited.

"_Are you going to tell him?_"

"No. I don't want him to have anything to do with the baby." I said, "And I know that it sounds harsh, but really, it's more for his sake than mine. I don't want to ruin anything that he and Pepper have."

"_Charlie, he should know. He's the baby's father!_"

"I know that, Tash." I said, closing my eyes, "But I really think that it's best for the meantime that he doesn't know about this."

"_He beats himself up about it, you know._" Natasha said, "_The fact that he played you like that._"

"And yet, I still have not gotten an apology from him." I responded.

"_Because he has no way to contact you!_"

I let out a dry laugh, "Tash, he's Tony Stark. He could access whatever file in the world if he really wanted to."

She didn't answer.

"Just please don't tell anyone." I said quietly, "I wanted you to know, because I want you to be the godmother, and I want Clint and Steve to be the godfathers. Just don't let Tony in on what's happening."

"_Alright, if that's what you really want._" She said, "_Do you want me to tell Steve and Clint for you?_"

"Please, if you could." I say, "And when I've popped, I'll let you know so you could come over to visit."

"_Alright. Love you, Charlie Banana. I miss you loads. Take care, alright?_"

I smiled, "I love you and miss you too, Tash. Give my love to Clint and Steve, too."

I hung up and left my phone by the sink.

I looked back down at the tests and licked my lips. It was now, or never.

I put the three tests in my pocket and left my bathroom, making my way down the stairs and into the kitchen.

My dad was sitting at the table, laughing with my mom who was cooking lunch.

I bit my lip and walked inside, staring at the two of them.

"Mom? Dad?" I started, hesitantly, "You guys will love me no matter what, right?"

They stared at me, confused.

"Of course we will, honey." My mom said.

"No matter what mistakes I have made, you'll stick by me right?" I said, my throat beginning to burn, "And you will never leave me, right?"

"Darling, what is this about?" My dad asked, worried, "What's going on?"

I looked up at the ceiling, my eyes filling with tears.

"I did something wrong, dad." I said, finally looking back at him.

They waited.

I reached my hand into my pocket and pulled out the tests, laying them out on the table.

My parents stared at it, not moving, not saying anything. I don't think they even breathed.

"It was just one time." I whispered, the tears falling down my face, "It was just one time, and I promise you, we used protection."

My mom gathered me into a hug, trying to calm me down.

"It was just one night." I said, closing my eyes, "I am so sorry, mom, dad. I really didn't mean for this to happen."

"Shh." My mom said, pulling away and wiping my tears, "We know you didn't mean to."

My dad cam from behind my mom and pulled me into a hug.

"It's going to be okay, Charlie." He said, "I know you're scared, and worried, but you'll get through this."

He kissed my forehead and pulled away, smiling slightly.

"We've always been excited about being grandparents anyway."

"You mean… You aren't mad?" I asked, "Or disappointed?"

My mom shook her head, "No, honey. Everyone makes mistakes. It's part of growing up."

I hugged the two of them and cried, not saying anything else.

XXXXXX

A boy.

I smiled softly at the photos from the ultrasound.

My finger ran across the image and I traced the outline of my child.

"What will you name him, Charles?" My dad asked, glancing at me through the rearview mirror.

I smiled at my father.

"Howard. I want to name him Howard."

He smiled, "It's a beautiful name, baby."

My mom turned to look at me, "You will be a wonderful mother."

"Thank you, mom."

I looked back at the photos, not wanting to ask the question that was really bugging me.

What about Harvard? What is going to happen when school starts?

XXXXXX

I was 9 months pregnant, due to give birth any day. We had a prepared bag by the door, in case my water were to break.

I was sitting at the couch, my feet propped up, watching football with my parents.

"Guys?" I asked.

"Is it happening? Did your water break? Are you feeling contractions?" My dad asked all at once, standing right up.

I laughed softly, "No, dad, I'm alright."

"Jack, you're acting like it's your first child-birth experience!" My mom said laughing.

"Well, what's wrong honey?" My dad said, rolling his eyes at my mother.

"I was wondering…" I started, "What's going to happen when February rolls around?"

February was only a month away. That meant school. But with Howard due this month, I didn't know what was going to happen.

"You can leave Howie with us, darling." My mom said, "You need to get an education. We'll take care of him, and you can come home whenever you want after the six month period."

"But-"

"No, 'buts'." My dad said, shaking his head, "Your mom is right. We don't want your future going to waste just because you gave birth. Your son will know you, and he will love you, and he will understand. But right now, you need to worry about yourself and the future. Without a degree, you won't be able to provide much of a life for you and Howie."

I felt a kick and I smiled.

"Seems like he agrees with you, dad." I said, "He just kicked."

Howie kicked again and I felt something slide out onto my thighs.

My eyes widened.

"And he's ready." I said, "My water just broke."

XXXXXX

Four hours of labour afterwards, I was holding Howard Anthony MacCallister was sleeping soundly in my arms. He had a full head of dark, curly hair. Just like his father.

I smiled at him and ran my finger down his face.

"Hey there, little guy." I whispered, "We've been waiting for you. We're so happy that you're finally here."

His little hand came up and he gripped my finger tightly.

"I love you, baby." I whispered, "And I'll never leave you."

The door knocked and my mom went over to open it.

I looked up, seeing Natasha, Clint, and Steve.

"Hey, you three." I said, smiling, not wanting to wake up the baby.

They hugged my mom hello and shook my dad's hand, then made their way to me.

The crowded around the bed and looked down at Howard.

"Oh, Charlie, he's so precious." Natasha cooed.

"He's a good looking baby, Charlie." Steve said, smiling down at Howie.

"You going to train him how to fight?" Clint asked. "I could teach him."

I laughed and Natasha hit Clint's arm.

"Clint now is not the time." She hissed.

He let out a weak smile, "Only joking baby."

My parents walked over to us.

"One thing is for sure." He said, grinning. "If this kid ever gets bullied, his enemies are going to have a real problem on their hands."

XXXXXX

Six years had gone by. Harvard ended up being a no-go, considering I couldn't stand to be away from Howard for longer than an hour. Instead, I went to California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.

I had gotten a degree in Aerospace Engineering, and I worked for NASA Monday to Friday, simply because I didn't want to think about anything else other than work and my son. I worked 8-hour shifts, from 8 in the morning to 4 in the afternoon.

Howard grew up looking and acting exactly like Tony.

I moved out of my parent's house and I lived in California with Howard in a three-bedroom house in Sun Valley, to be close to where I worked.

Howard was a smart boy. He was definitely a Stark in everything he did.

That was another thing. Tony still had no idea that Howie existed, I still hadn't told him. According to Natasha, he and Pepper broke up a few years back, and that they strictly had a work relationship. She even said he stopped sleeping around and immersed himself in the Iron Man suits.

Natasha, Clint, and Steve would visit every few months. Howie loved it when they came over. He had no idea that we were super heroes, and we intended to keep it that way for as long as we could; unless of course, the wolf gene was genetic and he would turn into a wolf, too.

It was weird to think that I was actually 24 already. It seemed almost like the incident at New York was just yesterday. America was still healing from it, not able to get over what had happened, and they also had a little wall in New York with the names of the people who died.

"Baby, come get breakfast!" I said, shouting up the stairs. "Come on, you'll be late for school."

He was in the second grade, in a public school just down the road. I drove him in the mornings and he took the bus home in the afternoons.

I had a babysitter over for two or three hours everyday when Howie came home to look after him while I was still at work.

He shuffled down the stairs, wearing jeans and a striped button up shirt.

He dragged his backpack down behind him and he ran to the dining table, climbing up onto the seat.

"I like what you're wearing today, baby." I said, smiling at him and placing a plate of waffles in front of him.

"Thanks, I need to impress the ladies." He said in his small voice, before wolfing down the waffles.

I suppressed an eye roll. Just like his father.

XXXXXX

It was a Saturday, and Howie and I were at the park. We always had a picnic at the park on Saturdays. It was where the two of us could spend time together.

We had just finished eating and we were about to head over to the swings when my phone rang.

I picked it up without checking to see who was calling.

"Hello?"

"_MacCallister, where are you?_" It was my boss. Great.

"Mr. Nicholson, it's a Saturday." I said, my left hand holding Howie's and my right hand holding my phone, "I don't come in on weekends."

"_Well you need to come in right now. We have a very important guest coming in an hour and we need you here in case the presentation goes awry. You're good at saving things."_

I frowned, "I would love to come in, sir, but I'm spending time with my 6 year old, and I don't have anyone to call to look after him."

"_Bring him in with you. Please Ms. MacCallister._" Mr. Nicholson's voice pleaded, "_I'll pay you double, just please be here in an hour._"

I sighed, "Alright."

I hung up and quickly knelt down to look into the dark brown eyes of my son.

"Baby, do you want to see where mommy works?"

XXXXXX

I carried Howard through the halls. His eyes were wide with wonder, staring into the rooms and gazing with amazement at all the high-tech equipment.

My boss met me halfway.

"Thank you so much for coming, I owe you."

Mr. Nicholson was a man in his mid-thirties. He was handsome, rich, and smart; every female I knew fell at his feet.

I placed Howard on his feet and shrugged.

"It's no big deal." I say, "Howie, this is my boss. Do you want to introduce yourself?"

Howard stuck out his left hand – he still needed to get the hang of which hand to use – and grinned up at Mr. Nicholson.

"Howard Anthony MacCallister." He said confidently, "But you, my friend, can call me Howie."

My boss shook his hand and grinned, "Robert James Nicholson, but you, young man, can call me Rob."

Robert looked at me and laughed, "Confident little guy, isn't he?"

I laughed, "Oh, you don't even know the half of it."

The three of us walked down the hall towards the presentation room.

"He dresses for school in the morning and tells me he needs to look nice for the ladies." I say.

"What?" Howie interrupts, "You never know who's watching you. You have to dress to impress."

Robert laughed, "You're going places kid."

"Speaking of dressing to impress," I say, "I'm sorry I'm so casual, but you did call me in last minute."

Rob shook his head, "Don't worry about it, it's alright."

"So, who is this big shot coming in today, anyway?" I asked as we walked through the doors.

But Rob didn't need to answer.

Because the guest turned around at the sound of my voice and stared at me; and I looked into his dark brown eyes and my heart sped up a million miles a minute.

"Charlie?"

I froze and my grip on Howie's hand tightened slightly.

"Tony."

"My god, it's been six years since I last saw you! You're looking good." He said.

I didn't reply.

His gaze went from me to Howard and he studied the boy with wide eyes.

Howard, who had no idea what was going on, held his left hand out to Tony, grinning.

"Hi!" he said, "I'm Howard Anthony MacCallister. But you can call me Howie."

Tony walked over and shook his little hand.

"Anthony Stark, but call me Tony." He said, "How old are you, Howie?"

"Six!" Howard said proudly, "Momma says I'm a big boy now."

Tony looked at me.

"Six years old, huh?" He said, not tearing his gaze away from mine, "You are a big boy."

"Tony, I can explain." I whispered, a little angry, "But not here, not now."

His eyes sparked in annoyance, "You better explain, Charlie." He whispered back, just as angrily, "You better explain why you kept him from me for so long."

I glared at him, "Because you left me with no choice, Tony."

I looked at Robert, "Please, can we just get this presentation started with?"

He nodded, confused.

But he took Tony and led him away from me.

I let out a breath.

"Momma, who was that man? Do you know him?"

"I used to, baby." I said, "But he isn't anyone important. Not anymore."

XXXXXX

**THAT'S ALL. **

**Hope you like it :)**

**Thanks to the people who just started following this story: skittlexninja, TheMostRandomOfRandomWriters, FredWeaslyyForever15, Brenda Banner1234, JackSparrowsWench92, KittehNinja24.**

**Thanks to the people who just favorited this story: FredWeaslyForever15, gambette123, JackSparrowsWench92.**

**Thanks to the people who reviewed:**

**xxxMadameMysteryxxx: Thank you! Here's the update! I made sure I didn't take too long!**

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**Hope06: I swear, even though I shouldn't have favorites, you are really the best person in the WORLD. You review every single time, and it means SO much to me that you do, really. A lot of readers seem to underestimate their voice, but really, as a writer we love hearing about what people think. It makes us better at what we're trying to achieve. Really? I'M NOT ALONE! I know! Charlie, poor girl. Tony really messed up big time, but don't worry, things are about to go dooooooown. In a good way. At least I hope so.**

**Special thanks to FredWeaslyForever15 for following and faving me as an author. THANK YOU, I LOVE YOU. AND YES, I, TOO, LOVE FRED WEASLEY. I'm still SO bummed about how he died :(**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I am not the owner of any of the characters in this story except for Charlie. She's a figment of my imagination and any resemblance to anyone is completely coincidental and non-intentional. I also do not own the plot, I'm just using bits and pieces of it including Charlie in the whole mix.**

**Previously:**

_"Tony, I can explain." I whispered, a little angry, "But not here, not now."_

_His eyes sparked in annoyance, "You better explain, Charlie." He whispered back, just as angrily, "You better explain why you kept him from me for so long."_

_I glared at him, "Because you left me with no choice, Tony."_

_I looked at Robert, "Please, can we just get this presentation started with?"_

_He nodded, confused._

_But he took Tony and led him away from me._

_I let out a breath._

_"Momma, who was that man? Do you know him?"_

_"I used to, baby." I said, "But he isn't anyone important. Not anymore."_

**And now, Chapter 11!**

I was still holding Howie's hand rather firmly.

I watched the back of Tony's head angrily. How dare _he_ get mad at _me_? I didn't do anything wrong. He had been the one to go behind both my and Pepper's backs and decided to do what he did.

I gritted my teeth, took in a deep breath, and left the room.

I made my way to the lobby, hoping Samantha, a lady I worked with who would come over to watch Howard occasionally, was working today.

Sure enough, she was there, sitting behind the Visitor Information booth, talking to another lady.

I walked up next the lady and cut in.

"I'm really sorry for interrupting-" I blinked, realizing who the woman was, "Pepper?"

Pepper's eyes widened and she gathered me into a hug.

"Charlie, look at you!" She said, smiling, "You're all grown up!"

I guess she didn't know about Tony and me…

I forced a smile on my face and smiled back, "It's been a while, after all. A few years."

She nodded eagerly, "So how've you been?"

I placed my hand on Howard's head and looked down at him.

"Introduce yourself, baby." I said.

Howard smiled shyly at Pepper, "I'm Howard Anthony MacCallister."

He held out his right hand – big surprise there, to be honest – and turned pink.

"You're very pretty." He said quietly.

I smiled and shook my head.

Pepper looked shocked for a moment and shook Howie's hand.

"I'm Pepper and thank you." She said, grinning, "You're very cute."

His already pink face turned even redder and he hugged my leg, hiding from Pepper.

I laughed, "He isn't usually this shy."

Pepper smiled, "He's adorable, Charlie. How old is he?"

"Six." I said, smiling.

"MacCallister!"

I frowned at the sound of Robert's voice and sighed.

"Sam, could you watch Howie for a bit?" I asked, turning to the brunette woman behind the counter.

"Oh I can do it." Pepper volunteered, "Sam seems busy, and I've got nothing to do anyway until Tony gets out."

I smiled at her gratefully, "Thank you so much."

I pried Howie's hands off my legs and knelt so I could look into his eyes.

"Baby, Auntie Pepper is going to watch over you for a bit, alright?" I said, "Mommy has to work."

He nodded shyly and he took Pepper's hand.

I kissed the top of his head and rushed down the hallway back into the presentation room.

"Sorry, I had to drop off Howie so I could focus." I said, slightly out of breath.

"Mr. Stark has a few questions that he only wants you to answer." Robert said, a slight frown on his face.

I nod and look at Tony.

Tony raised an eyebrow at me and then glanced over my shoulder at Rob.

"I was hoping I'd speak to her alone. I can focus more on what I need to ask if it was just the two of us." He said.

It was then that I knew exactly what he wanted to talk about. I bet he hadn't even listened to a word Rob had said about the new rocket launcher design.

Why on Earth was Tony even interested in NASA work? I frowned. Why was NASA even talking to Tony?

The door closed behind me and I snapped back to reality.

My eyes focused back onto Tony's face and I stared at him.

"What do you want?" I said monotonously.

Tony raised his eyebrow again, "What do _I_ want?"

He scoffed, "Let's see. What shall I begin with?" He began to pace around the room, "First of all, when were you planning to tell me? Were you even planning on telling me? How could you keep him from me? Why did you keep him from me?"

He stopped pacing and he turned to me, angry, "God dammit, Charlie. Why didn't you let me know?!"

"Because I didn't want you to know." I replied, my voice even, "I figured you were too busy with Pepper to even bother."

"That is my son! You had no right to keep him from me!" He shouted, "He has my name, for Christ's sake!"

"What does it matter, Tony?!" I retorted, "It isn't like you even care anyway! Frankly, I don't think you ever cared."

"Is that what you think?!" He asked, "That I _never cared_? I never stopped caring, Charlie!"

"Is that why you did what you did, Tony?" I replied, my throat burning, "Because you never stopped caring?"

He didn't reply, he just stood there, glaring at me.

"No, Tony, you _didn't_ care." I said, a tear escaping my eye, "Because if you _did_ care, you would have _tried_ to get a hold of me. _You would have made an effort_. You would have _tried_. And honestly Tony, if you did try, I would have let you know. I would have let you back into my life and let you into _his_ life. Because Howard needs a father, every boy needs a father. All of his life, he believed that his father is on a trip overseas and can't come home yet."

"Did you stop to think about how I felt about what happened?" Tony cut in.

I gaped at him, "Seriously, Tony? How _you_ felt about what happened?"

His mouth opened and then closed.

"I was 18, Tony. I had my whole life ahead of me! I had gotten accepted into Harvard and then I found out I was pregnant! And I couldn't do anything!" I was crying at this point, "I put my life on hold because you, apparently, _care too much_! And you _dare_ have the gall to ask if I thought about how you felt? Oh, I don't know, pretty darn amazing and proud that you had two women loving you?"

I felt my eyes flash and I growled in anger.

He stood there, watching me, quiet.

"After I left did you even bother looking for me?" I asked him.

He didn't answer.

I scoffed, "And you wonder why I didn't tell you about Howard."

"I'm sorry, okay?!" Tony shouted, "I should've tried, I know! But I figured you didn't want any part of me anymore. And it was just one god damned night, how in the world was I supposed to know that something was actually to come out of it? You still should've told me."

"So this is all my fault? That our child grew up without you?"

"I didn't say that."

"No, but you implied it."

We stayed quiet for a few minutes.

"So what's going to happen now?" He asked, "Are you going to tell him?"

I turned and walked to the door.

"Charlie, are you going to tell him?"

I opened the door and took a step outside.

I looked over my shoulder and looked at Tony as sadness and regret washed over his face.

"No, I'm not."

XXXXXX

I made a quick stop at the bathroom before I headed back to get Howie.

I splashed my face with water and I took deep breaths.

He was seriously unbelievable. To think that I even cared about him.

I closed my eyes, hoping the wolf in me would let my face return to its non-splotchy self.

I opened my eyes, thanking the heavens that I was a werewolf, and left the bathroom.

I rushed to the lobby, my eyes widening at the sight of Tony talking to Howie with a small smile on his face.

I ran forward.

"Howie!" I shouted.

My son turned to look at me, smiling.

I picked him up when I reached him and smiled at Pepper.

"Thank you so much for watching him, Pepper." I said, ignoring Tony.

"Oh, it was nothing." She said, standing, "He's a very polite little boy."

"I'm not a little boy." Howie said, pouting.

Pepper laughed, "A very polite young man, then?"

Howie grinned and nodded, "Yeah, I'm a big boy."

I forced myself to laugh.

"Well, Howie and I have to get going, we have a big day planned tomorrow." I said, backing up, "It was wonderful to see you again, Pepper."

"What are you doing tomorrow?" Tony interrupted.

"Mommy is taking me to the beach!" Howard replied happily, "Auntie Tasha, Uncle Clint, and Uncle Steve are coming, too."

I bit my lip to stop from cursing.

Howie turned to look at me, "Can Auntie Pepper and Uncle Tony come too, mommy?"

I hesitated. I really didn't want Tony anywhere near Howard.

Howie pouted and widened his eyes, pulling off the sad-puppy look perfectly.

I sighed, "Fine."

Howard laughed and clapped his hands.

I looked at Pepper, "We're going to Santa Monica tomorrow at 9."

A thought struck me and I paused.

"Does Bruce still live at Stark Tower?" I asked.

Pepper nodded, "Yeah, he's still there."

"Might as well bring him along, too." I said, "Well, we really have to get going now. Howie, say bye bye."

Howard waved his hand and I turned on my heel, speed walking to the parking lot.

XXXXXX

I put Howie to bed at 7 that night, and I stayed awake in the living room, staring at the wall in front of me.

Seeing Tony had definitely unnerved me. It made me angry, sad, and it made me remember how much I felt for him. I sighed and I grabbed my phone.

I dialed the number to my parents' house and waited. My mom picked up after the third ring.

"Hey mom, it's me." I said, tired.

"_Hey there, honey!"_ She said, "_How's everything?"_

"Um… It's good." I replied, and then I sighed, "Okay, no. It isn't good."

"_What's wrong?_" My mom asked, her tone serious.

"I saw Howie's father today." I said quietly.

My mom didn't answer right away, but I knew she was there. I could hear her breathing.

"I saw him and Howie was with me, and he figured it out." I said, "He knows that Howie is his, but Howie has no clue that he talked to his father today."

"_What are you going to do?_"

"I don't know." I answered, "We're going to Santa Monica tomorrow. His father, his father's ex-girlfriend, and the rest of the team." Except Thor, but my parents didn't exactly know about Thor, so I left that bit out.

"_Are you going to tell Howie_?"

"I don't know _how_ to tell Howie." I said, closing my eyes and burying my face in my hands, "I don't even know how I feel about seeing that damn Tony Stark again."

I froze, cursing mentally. I had decided years ago to not let my parents in on the identity of Howie's father.

"_Tony Stark? As in the Anthony Stark of Stark Industries? My grandson's father is Tony Stark?_" My mom said.

"Mom, please focus on the issue at hand and please ignore what I had just said." I whined.

"_I think you and Tony should tell Howie together._" My mother said, "_If you don't know how, I'm sure you and Tony will figure something out._"

"I'm not ready for this, mom." I said, closing my eyes again.

"_You'll be fine, baby._" My mom said, her voice calm, "_Everything will be fine_."

And I believed her.

XXXXXX

_I was sitting on the balcony, looking out at the sunset._

_"It's been a while, hasn't it?_"

_I looked to the right; a man shrouded in darkness and covered by the shadows was standing there._

_I say nothing, but I narrow my eyes and tense, prepared to shift in case anything was to happen._

_The figure laughs, "Do you not remember me, Charlie?"_

_I stand and I glare at him, "Clearly you haven't left much of an impression on me. Who are you and what are you doing at my house?"_

_The man laughs again and took a step forward, but his face was still hidden._

_"You really have no recollection of our encounter?" He asked, his voice teasing, "My, my. Is the incident from New York so far back in your mind that it is unreachable?"_

_I froze, fear gripping at my heart._

_"Ah, now you remember."_

_He took two steps forward, his face finally visible._

_"Loki." I said, my eyes narrowing into slits._

_He raised his hands up in defense, "Calm down, Charlotte. I cannot harm you in a dream."_

_A dream? I faltered._

_"Dream or not, what do you want?" I demanded, my tone hard and tense._

_He smiled, "Nothing."_

_"There's always something Loki."_

_He laughed in glee and clapped his hands together, "You mortals are so very amusing."_

_I growled, reminding him that I could still go wolf if I wanted to._

_"Believe it or not, I wanted to warn you." He said, his eyes twinkling._

_"Warn me?" I asked, suspicious._

_"Thanos." He said, turning serious, "A warlord who rules over a dead dimension. He plans to attack the Earth."_

_"And why should I trust you with this information?"_

_"Because I've grown quite fond of Earth." He said, smiling again, "It is the home of someone I've become attached to."_

_There was a twinkle in his eyes._

_"When is he planning this attack?" I asked._

_"I don't know." He said, "It could be soon, it could be in ten years. He rules over the Chitauri, and I don't know if he plans to attack with the Chitauri or if he has found an even stronger army."_

_The Chitauri. Memories filled my mind. So much death, so much destruction._

_"Why is he going to attack us?" I demanded, feeling hopeless, "The Earth hasn't done anything wrong!"_

_"He plans to attack because the Earth survived." Loki said a slight breeze blowing through, allowing his hair to sway with the wind, "He wants to prove that he is stronger than the Avengers, he wants to make a statement."_

_I looked out at the sunset, watching the last rays of the sun faded over the horizon._

_"Are we never going to catch a break from the rest of the galaxies?" I muttered._

_To this, Loki laughed, "Probably not. If you defeat Thanos, then you will just coax in stronger opponents."_

_"And if we are defeated by Thanos?"_

_"That, my dear, is a fate worse than death." Loki said quietly._

My eyes snapped open and I groaned, raising a hand to my head.

It was pounding and I cursed under my breath.

I was still in the living room and it was 7 in the morning, the sun just about to rise.

I stood up from the couch, stretching my stiff muscles.

An attack on Earth. All over again. How wonderful.

I walked up the stairs and into the bathroom, taking a very quick shower and getting dressed by 7:30. I wore a dark red bikini underneath a yellow sundress. I decided to just stick with wearing flip-flops.

I immediately began preparing all of the things Howie and I would need at the beach. Towels, clothes (shorts and a tank top for me, and shorts and a t-shirt for Howie), water, sunscreen, hats, and some of Howie's beach toys in case he wanted to make sand castles.

I rushed down the stairs with the bags, dropping them by the door and heading to the kitchen to cook some breakfast for Howie and I. Half an hour later, I had scrambled eggs and bacon on the table and a very sleepy Howie making his way down the stairs.

"Good morning, baby." I said, planting a kiss on the top of his head.

He yawned, "Good morning, mommy."

"Are you excited to go to the beach today?"

"I will be, as soon as I wake up." He said, picking up his fork and shoveling a few eggs into his mouth.

What did I tell you? He has the Stark attitude down perfectly.

"What do you want to do first when we get to the beach?" I asked him, smiling.

He picked up a piece of bacon and took a bite.

"Probably try and make a big sandcastle." He said, looking thoughtful, "And then swim to wash all the sand off me."

He took another bite of bacon, "Do you think Uncle Tony would help me build a sandcastle, mommy? He said he knows how to build cool things."

I hesitated, "Probably, baby. If you're behaved and if you ask nicely."

He didn't say much else for the rest of breakfast, and he cleaned off his plate.

I picked it up off the table, "Now go get changed, make sure you wear your swimming trunks."

He nods and ran up the stairs.

I rinsed off the dishes and stuck them into the dishwasher. It was 8:30 by this time and Howie ran back down the steps, wearing his – and I hate to say it – favorite Iron Man shirt and blue swim trunks.

"Come on, baby," I say, "Help mommy with the bags, and we'll get going. We don't want to be late."

He picked up the smaller bag and ran out the door.

I picked up the large bag, locked the door behind me and threw it in the trunk.

I helped Howie into the booster seat in the back and climbed into the driver's seat.

"You excited now, baby?" I asked, smiling at him through the rear view mirror.

He nods and laughs, "Very excited!"

I smile softly and back out of the driveway.

Today was definitely going to be interesting. I just wasn't sure if it was going to be good or bad.

**OKAY HI. **

**Here's the 11****th**** chapter. I figured I'd update now while I still can. Anyway, finals are coming up and this is probably the only update I'll manage in the next week and a half, as I'll be having papers to write and tests to take.**

**Wish me luck!**

**Thanks to Prussian Princess, Speechless'NowCareless, AnaDona, Azrael9296, alleycat2834, and mihel asyki akatsuki schizo for following this story.**

**Thanks to the people who reviewed:**

**AnaDona: Really? Thank you so much! I was hoping I'd improve. Thank you for reviewing!**

**xxxMadameMysteryxxx: That's what I was going for! How else am I going to keep you guys entertained? :3 Here's the update for you!**

**Twili Princess Hyrule Queen: Don't worry, everything is going to turn out amazingly (I hope – at this point the story is writing itself, and I'm just typing everything out). I SAW IT I SAW IT AND MY EXCITEMENT CANNOT BE CONTAINED.**

**Hope06: I hope I made their conversation okay, but it's just an itty bitty part of their conversation, as I'm going to have the REAL talk soon in a few more chapters after this. Natasha did, but silly Charlie is stubborn. It's the wolf in her.**

**Epic timlady TWright: Really? I don't know whether I should feel like a psychic or a creeper…. Thanks for the review!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I am not the owner of any of the characters in this story except for Charlie. She's a figment of my imagination and any resemblance to anyone is completely coincidental and non-intentional. I also do not own the plot, I'm just using bits and pieces of it including Charlie in the whole mix.**

**Previously:**

_I helped Howie into the booster seat in the back and climbed into the driver's seat._

_"You excited now, baby?" I asked, smiling at him through the rear view mirror._

_He nods and laughs, "Very excited!"_

_I smile softly and back out of the driveway._

_Today was definitely going to be interesting. I just wasn't sure if it was going to be good or bad._

**And now, Chapter 12!**

We arrived at Santa Monica Pier ten minutes after 9.

Howie and I were seating in front of the Pizza Hut and Taco Bell stands, and Howie was eating Dipping Dots.

"Do you think they're here already, mom?" Howie asked, ice cream dribbling down his chin.

How that boy manages to get food everywhere even with something as easy to eat as Dipping Dots is beyond me.

"Probably, baby, but we'll see."

Truth be told, I knew that I should call them and ask them where they are. But I didn't want to. I was scared of what the day would bring.

Then my phone rang and I cringed, secretly hoping it wasn't any of them.

I sighed, seeing Natasha's name flash on screen.

"Hey, Tash. Where are you guys?"

"_We just arrived. Tony took forever to get ready."_ Natasha said. I could practically hear her roll her eyes.

"_What? You have to dress to impress!" _Came Tony's voice in the background.

My heart panged. It was the exact same mantra Howie lived by.

"Well, we're by the Dipping Dots. Howie wanted ice cream." I said, my heart already speeding up at the thought of seeing Tony _again_.

"_Alright, we'll be there in a few._"

I ended the call and I stuffed my phone back in my pocket.

I looked down at Howie and ruffled his hair.

"They're here, baby." I said, "They'll be here soon."

_You're father is on his way here, kid. And you have no idea._

I bit my lip at the thought and I looked away and stared up at the blue sky.

XXXXXX

I hugged Natasha first, and then Pepper. Then I hugged Steve, then Clint, and Bruce, choosing to wave at Tony.

"What? No hug?" Tony said, opening up his arms.

I rolled my eyes at him and Howie came forward.

"I'll hug you, Uncle Tony!" He said.

I didn't move, I didn't even look down at my son as he rushed into his father's arms and hugged him.

I caught Steve's eye and his brows furrowed, as if to ask me if I was okay.

I shook my head a fraction of an inch to each side. _No, I'm not_.

"Oh that's precious!" Pepper said, grinning, "I have to take a photo of the both of you."

I watched then, as Tony stood up, bringing Howie up with him and grinning at the camera Pepper held in her hands.

"Smile at the camera, kid." Tony said, "Make it a big one."

In response, Howie grinned the happiest grin I have ever seen on his face and I took in a deep breath, my heart wrenching at the sight.

A hand squeezed my shoulder and I looked to my left.

Bruce gave me a weak smile and pulled his hand away.

He looked at Howie and Tony, then looked back at me raising his eyebrow.

I nodded once. Unlike Pepper, Bruce _knew_ that Tony and I were something at one point in our lives. Considering our last encounter was six years ago and Howie was 6…

Howie ran to me and I smiled down at him, taking his hand in mine.

"Can we go swimming now, mommy?"

I nodded, "Of course, baby."

XXXXXX

Howie was making sand castles with Steve, Clint, and Bruce. It was honestly the first time I've seen Bruce so relaxed.

Natasha and Pepper were in the water and talking and having a good time.

Me? Well I was sitting on a towel, watching everyone have fun. It wasn't fun for me though, because Tony had decided to sit with me.

"Tony, I really do not want a conversation with you right now." I said.

"Well, we're going to have one." He replied.

"I just don't understand why you couldn't have told me." He said, studying Howie, "You could've knocked on the door and walked in saying that we were having a son."

"I could've." I said, watching my son play as well, "Except we weren't having a son. I was having a son."

His head snapped to me and I turned my head to look into his eyes.

"I was having a son while you were together with Pepper." I said, "I know you were cheating on her with me. How would that have looked?"

He said nothing.

"I don't want Howie exposed to that." I said quietly.

His gaze never left mine.

"I'm not like that anymore."

"It isn't going to be that easy, Tony."

"Then what can I do to make you trust me again?"

"Prove to me that you care." I responded, "Not about me, but about him. Howie is all that matters here."

"But I do care about you." He replied, "And Howie. He's a bonus to all of this."

I say nothing, keeping my face nonchalant even though my heart was ready to burst in my chest.

"I want to make things right." He said, his hand reaching for mine, "I really, truly do."

His hand wrapped around mine and time just froze. Just like that, in one simple touch, it was just the two of us.

It felt so right, but it wasn't supposed to. I didn't want it to feel right. I didn't _want_ to want to be with him again. I would have to be a masochist to go crawling back to him.

I pulled my hand away and stood up without a word. I peeled my sundress off me, dropping it on the towel, and headed in the direction of Natasha and Pepper.

XXXXXX

Howie was asleep, laying on the towel and shielded from the sun by the umbrella that we had brought along with us.

The rest of the team was sitting on their towels, too, just relaxing.

I stared out into the sun, and suddenly remembered my dream.

"Clint, Tash, has there been… anything new going on?" I asked.

They looked at me and frowned.

"New?" Clint asked, "Like what?"

The team and Pepper looked at me expectantly. I glanced down at Howie, making sure he was still asleep.

"I had a dream last night, about Loki." The team tensed, and Tony, who was right next to me had paled and he took a deep breath, "He told me that there was going to be another attack. That New York was going to happen all over again."

"Did he say anything else?" Natasha asked, going on full Agent mode.

I shook my head, "Just that someone called Thanos was going to attack. He said he didn't know when, and told me that Thanos ruled over the Chitauri."

Tony took in another deep breath and I glanced at him. His eyes were closed.

"I'm just going on how I feel here, but I don't think we should trust your dream." Bruce said, frowning.

"Loki's a God, isn't he? Who's to say he can't visit people's dreams?" Steve asked.

"If only Thor were here, we could ask him." Clint said.

"You're absolutely certain that's what he said?" Natasha asked, "That Thanos was going to bring another load of Chitauri here?"

I shrugged, "Loki wasn't sure."

Tony took in another breath, but this time it was shallow.

I looked at him and my eyes widened. He was tense and he had his face in his hands. His breathing was labored and he was pale.

Panic attack.

He sprung up and ran away from the group, collapsing into his knees a few feet away.

I stood up immediately and followed after him, kneeling in front of him.

I put my hand on his shoulder.

"Tony." I said softly, "It's alright. Nothing's wrong, nothing is going to hurt you. Just breathe."

He started to shake, but he looked up at me and his fisted hands were at his sides, clenched tightly.

"Tony, come on. Breathe." I put my right hand on my chest and moved my left hand down from his shoulder and placed it on top of his arc reactor, "Breathe with me."

He and I kept eye contact and he matched his breathing to mine.

When he calmed down enough, his head moved forward and he rested his head on my shoulder, taking deep breaths.

I didn't move, my hand that was on his chest had fallen at my side, but my left hand was still above my heart that, _of course_, begun to beat wildly against my rib cage.

**Okay, it's short, but I figure it's better than not updating at all!**

**Thank you to my new followers smarty-wanna-party, SmileandMoveOn, MusicIsBetterWithKendall, pokemonquest.**

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	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: I am not the owner of any of the characters in this story except for Charlie. She's a figment of my imagination and any resemblance to anyone is completely coincidental and non-intentional. I also do not own the plot, I'm just using bits and pieces of it including Charlie in the whole mix.**

**Previously:**

_"Tony." I said softly, "It's alright. Nothing's wrong, nothing is going to hurt you. Just breathe."_

_He started to shake, but he looked up at me and his fisted hands were at his sides, clenched tightly._

_"Tony, come on. Breathe." I put my right hand on my chest and moved my left hand down from his shoulder and placed it on top of his arc reactor, "Breathe with me."_

_He and I kept eye contact and he matched his breathing to mine._

_When he calmed down enough, his head moved forward and he rested his head on my shoulder, taking deep breaths._

_I didn't move, my hand that was on his chest had fallen at my side, but my left hand was still above my heart that, of course, begun to beat wildly against my rib cage._

**I keep saying I won't update until next week, but I still do because I'm procrastinating, and I really shouldn't. But I am. And oh God, I hope I don't fail my classes.**

**And now, Chapter 13!**

It was 6 o'clock in the evening.

Pepper, Tony, and Bruce ended up having to ride with me. Steve went off on his Harley, and Clint and Tash decided they had to warn Fury about a possible impending attack. So now I was in charge of taking the trio back to Malibu, because they had all ridden with Clint and Tash.

Tony was sitting at the passenger seat, Bruce was seated directly behind me in the back seat, Pepper seated behind Tony, and Howie was sitting between the two in his booster seat.

Howie was asleep, leaving us adults to talk.

"Tony says you work at NASA." Bruce said, breaking the awkward silence, "How's that working out?"

I nodded, "Yeah, actually. I got a job directly after graduating. It's going pretty good, thanks."

"I didn't know you were interested in that kind of thing." Bruce said, "Not that I didn't think you couldn't do it, because you obviously can. I just never pegged you as the type to go for engineering."

I raised an eyebrow, wondering if there was a double meaning to it. I caught his eye in the rearview mirror, and he glanced at Tony pointedly then looked back at me.

There was definitely a double meaning.

"I didn't know either." I said, looking back at the road, my hands tightening around the wheel, "It seemed like it was right for me, so I made my decision. And here I am."

I didn't know whether to laugh or feel sorry for Bruce. The only way he could ask me how I was doing was through some sort of hidden message.

Which by the way, I'm sure Tony picked up on.

"And was it?" Tony piped up, not tearing his gaze from the view outside the window, "Was it right for you?"

I thought over my words. Pepper was still in the car, and I'm pretty sure she was starting to get confused at our conversation. At the corner of my eye, I watched as Tony's head turned to look at me, waiting for my reply.

"I don't know," I said, then I glanced at him long enough to say, "I haven't figured it out yet."

XXXXXX

We had arrived at Tony's place at 6:45. Bruce and Pepper went ahead, bringing some of their bags inside.

Tony lingered.

"Thank you," He said, "For what you did for me today. The panic attacks have been happening ever since New York."

I shrugged, "It was nothing. You're welcome."

"Are you going to come inside?"

I hesitated.

"You and Howie could spend the night." He added quietly, "There's more than enough space, and there are empty bedrooms."

I didn't say anything.

"I'd just really, really love it if the two of you stayed."

I waited for him to say "the night" after the end of his sentence, but it never came.

I cleared my throat, "I appreciate the offer, Tony, but I have to get going. Howie has school in the morning, and I have work."

"Just stay for dinner." He pleaded.

I looked down at my lap.

"Tony, I'm sorry. But it's going to take me an hour to get home, and the sun is about to set. We really should get going." I didn't dare look at him. I was torn between feeling proud for refusing his offer and feeling stupid because a part of me _really_ wanted to take him up on it.

He didn't say anything for a while, and I just sat still, not looking up.

"Okay." He said, his voice crisp. I winced. He only ever talked in that tone if he didn't want to show people he was hurting. "Maybe next time then."

He opened the passenger seat door and took a step outside.

"Tony, wait."

The words left my mouth before I could stop them. He paused and looked over at me with sad, but hopeful eyes.

I took a deep breath, counted to three, and then I leaned over and kissed his cheek softly. I pulled away quickly and gave him a small smile.

"Next time." I said.

He smiled, and I'm talking a _genuine_ smile here, one that only Anthony Stark can make and cause thousands of butterflies to erupt in my stomach and shivers to run down my spine.

Tony got out of my car, and closed the door behind him. I drove away, watching him watch us leave through the rearview mirror.

"Mommy likes Uncle Tony!"

I nearly slammed my foot down on the brakes in surprise.

"Howie!"

He giggled.

"How much did you see?" I demanded, driving out of the estate and onto the highway.

"Enough to know that MOMMY LIKES UNCLE TONY!" He shouted.

I winced, "Howie, please keep your voice down, we're inside the car."

"But mommy, this is great!" He said, clapping his hands, "Maybe Uncle Tony can become my daddy!"

My heart ached.

I pulled over to the side of the road and I looked over at my son.

He smiled at me, "I think he'll be the best daddy in the world!"

XXXXXX

_"I find it utterly amusing that your son has no idea the man he says is going to be 'the best daddy in the world' is already his father."_

_I rolled my eyes, "Leave my son out of our conversations, Loki."_

_He grinned, "Right, right. My apologies."_

_"Have you learned anything new about Thanos?"_

_"Not much, but I am absolutely certain he's attacking with the Chitauri."_

_I sighed and stared out into the sunset._

_"Why are you even warning us?" I asked, "Not that I don't appreciate it, but really. I can't help but wonder if-"_

_"If this is some sort of sick, twisted ploy created by the great God of Mischief to try and take over the Earth again?"_

_I looked at him, "Well, yeah."_

_He laughed, "I appreciate the honesty, lycan. But I can assure you that I mean well."_

_"Then why isn't Thor the one delivering this information?"_

_Loki turned serious._

_"My brother doesn't know." He said, "And I have no way to tell him. A few of Thanos' men remain my friends, and they have warned me of the impending danger. I am still locked up in this cell, and my brother hasn't been down to visit me recently."_

_I studied his face._

_"You've been through a lot." I said casually, "You know, it's okay to be sad."_

_He looked at me in surprise and then smiled weakly, "I am a God, I'm not supposed to be weak."_

_"Being sad isn't being weak," I said, "It means you've been trying so hard to stay strong for too long. No one is going to shun you for showing emotion."_

_He says nothing, but he continues to stare at me._

_"If I were to be King-"_

_"If you were to be a King," I said, "A great King, you need to be able to connect to your subjects, and not just rule over them. You have to understand them, and love them, and protect them. You need to feel."_

_He looks off at the sunset, silent once more._

_"Loki, why are you interested in saving the Earth anyway?"_

_"Because I want to keep her safe."_

My eyes snapped open as my obnoxious alarm clock went off. I cursed, and just when Loki was about to explain, too.

6:30.

I dragged myself out of bed, taking off my clothes and heading to the bathroom.

Keep _who_ safe? As far as I was concerned, the only females Loki had contact with while in Earth was me and Tash; and I'm pretty darn certain he couldn't care less about Natasha.

I jumped into the shower, staying away from the stream of cold water. Was he even telling the truth? Was I even _talking_ to Loki? Or could he just be the product of my imagination?

I squeezed a regular amount of shampoo into the palm of my hand and washed my hair.

That was the most important question here. Whether or not I was actually talking to Loki. It was entirely possible that my brain just created another threat in the light of the New York attack.

I rinsed off the shampoo and ran conditioner through my hair.

How was I even supposed to know if it was real or not? Was that even possible? Bruce would probably be able to tell, if he had me hooked to a machine to monitor my brain patterns or whatever. But then that would involve me heading over to Tony's place and it would just get me even more confused.

I rubbed soap all over my body and grabbed my loofa.

It would be the right thing to do though, getting myself checked before I get the whole team (and SHIELD) worked up over what could possibly be a figment of a disturbed mind. I mean, Tony got panic attacks; maybe this was the way my brain decided to cope.

I rinsed off and stepped out of the shower, quickly drying my body with my towel and putting on my clothes.

I was wearing black slacks and a white button up blouse.

I grabbed my hair-tie off the bathroom counter and rushed out of my room to wake Howie up for school.

XXXXXX

I stared at the blueprints in my hands. There was something off about the calculations.

I untied my hair and ran my hand through it, sighing.

"Long day?"

I turned around in surprise.

"Tony. What are you doing here?"

He put his hands in his pockets, "I was in the neighborhood, and I thought I'd drop by."

I raised my eyebrow, smiling, "You were in the neighborhood?"

He nodded.

"In Sun Valley." I said, my smile widening, "All the way from Malibu."

He bit his lip and then sighed.

"Okay, okay." He said, raising his hands up in mock defense, "I came to see you. Happy?"

I laughed, "What can I do for you?"

He grinned, "I was wondering if you and Howie wanted to come over for dinner Friday night."

I hesitated, warning bells sounding in my head. But my damn heart kept telling me to say yes.

"Come on, it'll be fun! You, me, and Howie." He said, smiling, "And don't give me the excuse that you have work and Howie has school."

"It's just that Saturdays we always do something together, you know?" I said.

His smile faltered and my heart panged.

"But hey, what kind of family day would it be without his father?" I added.

His eyes widened and his jaw dropped.

"What?"

I sighed, "I'm saying that it would be nice if the three of us could go out together for the whole day Saturday… But I mean, if you're busy, Friday night dinner sounds good, too."

"I'd love to spend the day with the both of you." He said, his entire being already radiating happiness. "So are you going to spend the night on Friday, then?"

"If we could, then it would be preferable."

He nodded eagerly, "Yeah, that'd be great."

I smiled, "So I'll see you Friday night? Around 6?"

"6. Perfect." He replied, "That's perfect. Absolutely perfect."

XXXXXX

**YAY! :D Okay, I'm DEFINITELY not going to update until AFTER June 3****rd****. Because I have to face reality and actually hit the books.**

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	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: I am not the owner of any of the characters in this story except for Charlie. She's a figment of my imagination and any resemblance to anyone is completely coincidental and non-intentional. I also do not own the plot, I'm just using bits and pieces of it including Charlie in the whole mix.**

**Previously:**

_"What?"_

_I sighed, "I'm saying that it would be nice if the three of us could go out together for the whole day Saturday… But I mean, if you're busy, Friday night dinner sounds good, too."_

_"I'd love to spend the day with the both of you." He said, his entire being already radiating happiness. "So are you going to spend the night on Friday, then?"_

_"If we could, then it would be preferable." _

_He nodded eagerly, "Yeah, that'd be great."_

_I smiled, "So I'll see you Friday night? Around 6?"_

_"6. Perfect." He replied, "That's perfect. Absolutely perfect."_

**OKAY. I'm absolutely certain I nearly failed my Math final. My English final isn't due until June 7th, but it's just some essay test, so whatever. I'm not worried about it.**

**And now, Chapter 14!**

"Natasha! You aren't helping!"

She laughed.

We were in my bedroom, and she was helping me pick an outfit for tonight. She had brought over some of her clothes and told me to pick what I wanted to wear.

At first, I didn't mind, seeing as she was Natasha flipping Romanoff and she was the prettiest female on the planet.

Then she opened up her bag and pulled out the skimpiest outfits I had ever seen in my life.

Natasha picked up a tight black dress that would show off the wearer's back and was held up by tiny strings that would be tied around the neck. It was rather short, too, falling down to mid-thigh.

"This would look fabulous on you. And it would be easy to take off, too." She winked, "Considering how much you two have it in for each other, I think you should wear this, in the inevitable occasion that you two do the deed."

I gaped at her in horror, "Tash! Seriously!"

She shrugged and threw it on the bed, "You're right, too conservative."

My jaw dropped, "Conservative?"

Reaching inside her bag, she pulled out a royal blue dress. It was basically the same design as the black one but longer.

She scrunched up her nose, "You'll look like a nun in this. It's way too long."

I sighed and rubbed at my temples. I was meeting Tony in three hours, and I had yet to hop in the shower.

She pulled out a bright red lace dress next. It was long sleeved, and the sleeves and collarbone area were lace, and the dress fell a little bit above the knee.

I sat up, "It's perfect."

She held it up in the air and nodded, "Not too conservative, not too formal."

I stood up and smiled at her, "Thank you for doing this."

She grinned, "Go take a shower. I'll get your shoes and accessories ready."

**XXXXXX**

It was 5:55pm. I couldn't bring myself to get out of the car and enter Tony's house.

"Momma?" Howie asked, confused, "Are we going to get out?"

I took a deep breath, "Give mommy a second, baby."

"Are you nervous, mommy?" He teased.

I didn't answer and he laughed.

"You are nervous!" He leaned forward and poked my shoulder, "Being nervous is good, mommy, it means you're hoping nothing goes wrong because you care."

I rolled my eyes, "And what would a 6-year-old know about dating?"

He laughed, "The right question is, what don't I know?"

I turned to look at him, horrified, "Howie! You're too young for anything!"

He grins, his smile exactly like Tony's, "I just know these things, momma."

"Look at you, acting like a grown man." I said, teasing him, "You're still going to be mommy's little boy, you know."

"Alright, I'm okay with that." He said, "As long as we actually go out to see Uncle Tony now, I'm hungry! Besides, your face turns red when Uncle Tony smiles at you, it's funny."

I sighed and got out of the car, making my way to the back seat and helping Howie out.

Howie was wearing black pants and a semi-formal plaid button-up shirt. Natasha had paired off the dress with gold earrings, necklace, and bracelet. My heels were only about three inches high, and they were red, too.

"It's going to be alright, mommy."

I bit my lip.

_Dear God, it better be._

With Howie's hand in mine, we walked up to the door and I pressed the doorbell.

We didn't have to wait too long until Tony opened up the door, smiling softly at me with twinkling eyes and then grinning down at Howie.

"Uncle Tony!"

"Hey kiddo!" Tony said, bending down to pick up Howie. Howie wrapped his little arms around Tony's neck and smiled. "Thank you for inviting mommy and I to dinner."

"You're a smart one, little man." Tony said, "And you're welcome."

I kind of just stood there awkwardly, watching the pair interact while I was still outside in the cold.

"Charlie, come in!" Tony exclaimed, placing Howie back on his feet.

"Oh gee, how nice of you to finally notice me." I said sarcastically, but a grin spread across my face.

"He _always _notices you, mommy." Howie said, laughing, "Uncle Tony likes you, too."

I froze, as did Tony.

I think I even stopped breathing.

"Howie." I said, looking at him in horror, "Don't say things like that."

Howie pouted, "I'm sorry mommy, sorry Uncle Tony."

The three of us stood in silence for a second or two, before Jarvis' voice boomed down from the ceiling.

"_Welcome Ms. MacCallister. It's been a while since I last saw you._"

Howie looked up at the ceiling in shock.

"Thank you, Jarvis." I said, smiling, "This is my son, Howie."

"_It's wonderful to meet you Howie_." Jarvis said, "_I am Jarvis._"

Howie's head snapped to me in confusion, looking like he had just seen a ghost.

"Mommy, what's a Jarvis?"

Tony and I laughed.

"Artificial Intelligence, sweetie." I said, "Think of Jarvis as a super computer who takes care of everything in the house."

Howie's jaw dropped and his eyes sparkled, "Awesome!"

"Your Uncle Tony built him."

Howie grinned at Tony.

"You're brilliant, Uncle Tony!"

I smiled softly and Tony cleared his throat.

"Thanks, kid." He said, "Now, are you hungry?"

Howie nodded.

"Well, go off to the dining room. It's straight ahead." Tony said, smiling.

Howie raced off, his head turning, trying to look at everything all at once.

"By the way…" Tony said, once Howie was out of earshot.

He looked at me and smiled softly, "You look beautiful."

**XXXXXX**

It was 10pm, and I had just put Howie to bed. I was still wearing Natasha's dress, but I decided to take off my heels and pad around barefoot.

I left the bedroom door ajar, in case Howie woke up later and got scared.

I walked into the living room. Tony was standing by the window, staring outside holding a glass of wine in his right hand.

He caught my reflection in the window and he turned around smiling.

"He's asleep." I said, breaking the silence.

Tony nodded and took a sip of his wine.

"I never got to tell you how amazing I think you are." He said, holding my gaze. "You raised our son on your own for six years, all while going to school and work. It's really very… God, I can't even find the right word."

I take a few steps forward. I'm by the sofa now, and I lean my hip against the back of it.

"It wasn't hard." I reply.

Tony laughs softly, "See, that's exactly what I mean. Because I know that it is hard. My parents had a hard time raising me and they did it together. Considering Howie is from the same gene pool I am, I bet he's tough, too."

I crack a smile, "He's exactly like you."

Tony smiles.

"He dresses for school saying that he has to impress the ladies."

Tony throws his head back and laughs. I watch as a strand of his hair falls across his face, brushing his forehead.

"That is definitely my son."

We grow quiet.

"I really am sorry." He says after a while.

I shake my head and walk up to him, only a couple feet away from his being.

"You had no idea." I said, "There was nothing you could do."

"But I hurt you."

"And in the process you gave me the best thing that could have ever happened to me in my life." I said, brushing that strand of hair from Tony's face and looking into his brown eyes, "Our son."

His eyes studied my face, "Why are you so beautiful?"

His eyes twinkle suddenly ad he takes a step back, letting his eyes roam over my body.

When he meets my gaze he smirks, "And red and gold? Those are my colours. But I have to say, they definitely look better on you."

I laugh and whack his arm playfully, making my way to the couch.

"For your information, this was unintentional. Natasha dressed me."

I sat down and he followed, sitting next to me. Not close enough to make me uncomfortable (and by that, I mean the good uncomfortable. Damn this man), and not too far to make it awkward.

"So it has nothing to do with me then?" He teased.

I grinned, "Oh it has everything to do with you. How else was I to catch your attention?"

His face turns serious, except for a small sincere smile. He scooches over closer to me and leans his face in

"You don't need to try at all." He said, quietly.

I catch him glancing down at my lips and my heart thuds in my chest.

"You always have my attention." He whispers, before pressing his lips against mine.

**Well, that was long overdue. SORRY! My mom's getting married next month so things have been pretty hectic. But it IS officially summer! Yay! So yeah, I'll TRY to update, but really, with this wedding, no promises.**

**Thank you to:**

**Nightmarederpybro221b, charlotter1, everythingchanges, LiquidLuck007, Lord of the 13 hells, and hikari meillure for following this story.**

**Nightmarederpybro221b, newty01, Artemis450, phantomphanatic2005, LiquidLuck007, Lord of the 13 hells for faveing this story!**

**Special thanks to LiquidLuck007 for following and faveing me as an author. MUCH APPRECIATED, THANK YOU! **

**Special thanks to Lord of the 13 hells for faveing me as an author! You rock! Thanks so much!**

**A MASSIVE thank you to those who reviewed:**

**xxxMadameMysteryxxx: I AM SO SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG, but here it is!**

**Hope06: Bruce IS adorable! It definitely will not be regretted! Thank you so much! I passed all my classes with As and Bs, so I'm happy! Thanks for the review!**

**LiquidLuck007: YOU ARE AMAZING AND I LOVE YOU. Sorry it took so long!**

**Lord of the 13 hells: OMG THANK YOU FOR REVIEWING AS WELL! Thank you so much! I'm trying to make Tony be a good person where Howie is involved. Sorry it took long to update!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: I am not the owner of any of the characters in this story except for Charlie. She's a figment of my imagination and any resemblance to anyone is completely coincidental and non-intentional. I also do not own the plot, I'm just using bits and pieces of it including Charlie in the whole mix.**

**Previously:**

_I sat down and he followed, sitting next to me. Not close enough to make me uncomfortable (and by that, I mean the good uncomfortable. Damn this man), and not too far to make it awkward._

_"So it has nothing to do with me then?" He teased._

_I grinned, "Oh it has everything to do with you. How else was I to catch your attention?"_

_His face turns serious, except for a small sincere smile. He scooches over closer to me and leans his face in_

_"You don't need to try at all." He said, quietly._

_I catch him glancing down at my lips and my heart thuds in my chest._

_"You always have my attention." He whispers, before pressing his lips against mine._

**Chapter 15**

Last night's kiss played over and over again in my head while we were driving over to the beach.

Howie was chattering happily in the back seat of the car and I was avoiding Tony's glances and staring out the window.

"Today is going to be so much fun, isn't it, Uncle Tony?" Howie said loudly.

"Oh, loads of fun, kid." Tony said.

"And we can go swimming right?"

"You'll have to ask your mom that question." Tony answered.

I bit my lip and glanced at Tony pointedly before turning my head to look at Howie.

"Of course, we can go swimming, baby." I say, "But only if your Uncle Tony or me go with you into the water. Alright?"

Howie nods, "Oh boy, this is going to be so much fun!"

I laugh and Tony grins.

Tony glances over at me and he smiles. My heart warms at the sight and I smile back before looking back out the window.

We get to the beach half an hour later and we make our way immediately to the coastline.

I grab Howie before he can rush into the water.

He giggles happily and tries to wrestle his way out of my grip.

I ruffle his hair and he shrieks with laughter.

"We got to put sun screen on first, Howie." I say, grinning. "Otherwise you'll be as red as a tomato."

As if on cue, Tony tosses the sunscreen to me and I catch it with one hand, immediately spraying it on Howie's body.

He bounced up and down impatiently and he huffed when I was finished.

"Can we swim now?"

I catch Tony's eye and I grin.

"Not yet, baby." I say, "We grown ups need the sunscreen, too."

Howie groans, his brown hair falling over his eyes as he glares at the sand.

Almost immediately, Tony's shirt is off and he picks Howie up and throws him over his shoulder.

"No pouting in front of me." I hear Tony say to Howie.

Howie giggles again and he tries to break free, but Tony just marches into the water tossing Howie into the blue waves.

I smile at the sight.

My phone rings and I glance at the screen.

_Natasha_.

I pick it up, feeling dread creep into me.

"_You were right._"

My heart stopped.

"_Thor's here. To warn us."_

A shiver ran down my spine and I looked up at the sky, almost expecting to see another portal open up like all those years ago.

"_The Chitauri are coming again._" She says, her voice shaking at the end, "_We need you and Tony to come in right now. We've already contacted Banner and he's on his way here. We're still trying to reach Rogers."_

I bite my lip and close my eyes, "What do I do about Howie? The three of us are at the beach."

Natasha hesitates.

"_You might have to bring him in, unless you can manage to drive down to your parents house in time."_

I shook my head, "No. There is no way I'm bringing Howie to SHIELD. Tony and I will figure something out."

I pressed the end button and ran towards the water, the sand kicking up around me.

Tony looks up and frowns at the worried expression I have on my face.

"New York, all over again." I say and he tenses. His jaw clenches and he turns a little pale.

"We have to go, now." I tell him.

Tony nods and glances at Howie as if to ask me what we were going to do about him.

I swallow, "Actually, I was thinking maybe… Pepper?"

Pepper was probably last on my list of potential baby sitters. But as it is, we had no choice. It was either leave our son with Tony's ex-girlfriend, or take him into SHIELD with us.

Tony nods once, "Pepper."

I reach for Howie's hand and he takes it, looking confused.

"Are we leaving mommy? But we just got here!"

"I know, baby." I say, leading him away from the water, "But mommy has an emergency at work, and your Uncle Tony is helping out with the company I work for. Your Auntie Pepper will babysit you at Uncle Tony's house until we return."

He pouts, "When will you both be back?"

I didn't answer. The last time I left I was gone for months.

Tony saw me hesitate and picked up Howie again.

"What did I tell you about pouting?"

I reached for my phone and dialed my dad's cellphone number.

He answered after a few rings.

"Dad, I need your help."

"_What's wrong? Is Howie hurt? Are you at the hospital? Did anyone die?_"

I let out a stiff laugh at his concern.

"Howie's fine, dad. But they called me in again. Me and Tony. The incident at New York is going to happen all over again, but at a much, much larger scale." I sighed, "We're leaving Howie with Tony's assistant at his place in Malibu. Do you think you can drive down and get him?"

"_Of course, honey. How long are you going to be gone this time?"_

"I don't know." I answer quietly, "We don't know when the attack is going to be. We just have to be prepared at all times and keep our eyes open for any signs that the battle will start."

My dad stays quiet.

"Look, dad, I know that you're already thinking up some speech to get me to change my mind," I say, an ounce of irritation creeping into my voice, "But I can't. After this, if my source is telling the truth, New York will be nothing compared to what will happen. New York will look like a squished ant and this will be a full-blown supernova. Dad, I'm talking about an enemy even greater and stronger than the last, with an army bigger than before. I have to do this. For the world, and especially for Howie. Which is why I called you. And I know he's going to be asking questions, and he's going to think I abandoned him. But just tell him that I'm working on something very important and that when he's older he'll understand."

My dad takes a deep, shaky breath.

"_Just come home in one piece."_

I smile, "Always."

**XXXXXX**

Tony was driving faster than he usually did, his hands clenched tight against the steering wheel.

Luckily for us, Pepper was already on her way to Tony's house when we called and gave her a very brief and very vague explanation.

"What did Natasha tell you?" Tony asked through gritted teeth.

"Practically nothing," I say, my voice monotone, "She said that Thor had arrived, and he came with a warning. She said that I was right."

Tony cursed under his breath, "I was secretly hoping that your dreams were just that… dreams."

"You and me both." I mutter.

"No, you don't understand, Charlie." Tony said, not tearing his eyes off the road, "I _saw_ the entire battle fleet. There were millions of them and I thought that nuke blew them all up and that that would be the end of it. And here you come along bringing news of an impending attack. I still have nightmares of the things I saw through that portal. I really thought it was over and done with it."

I kept my gaze on Tony and my expression softened.

I laid my hand on his arm and his head snapped to face me.

"Tony, pull over."

He took in a few shallow breaths before coming to a screeching halt at the side of the road.

I lean over the seat and gather Tony into a hug.

"There is nothing I can do or say that will make what happened disappear." I say quietly into his ear, "And there is nothing I can do or say to stop what is going to happen from happening. But I'm not going to leave your side."

He pulls away and looks into my mismatched eyes; his brown eyes glazing over with unshed tears.

I crack a small smile, "And I will always be here."

**XXXXXX**

**So it seems to me that Charlie keeps on being the rock in Tony's life. Heh.**

**Anyhow, thanks to **

**Mammps for following and faveing. You are amazing.**

**For Xxdreamergirl95xX for faveing and following both me and the story. YOU AMAZING HUMAN I LOVE YOU.**

**MASSIVE thanks to WritersUnite717 for faveing and following both me and the story. AND for reviewing like 6 times AND for sending me a PM (which I should probably reply to, OMG IVE BEEN SO BUSY IM SO SORRY)**

**Thank you to charlotte-depphead-klausner, kali yugah, Zyophia Clari for following this story.**

**Thank you to Hope06 for reviewing (I seriously bloody love you, you are amazing) : I KNOW RIGHT =)) Natasha probably had that trick up her sleeve and totally knew what she was doing. **

**ANYWAY, I'm leaving in less than a week, and I'll be busy for the next two weeks. And I'll be on vacation so I'll TRY to update, but erm.. VACAYYYYYYYYY. Gonna be loads fun!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: I am not the owner of any of the characters in this story except for Charlie. She's a figment of my imagination and any resemblance to anyone is completely coincidental and non-intentional. I also do not own the plot, I'm just using bits and pieces of it including Charlie in the whole mix. And I do not own Thanos's history, I googled it and copied it off a marvel wiki website thing.**

**Previously:**

_"Tony, pull over."_

_He took in a few shallow breaths before coming to a screeching halt at the side of the road._

_I lean over the seat and gather Tony into a hug._

_"There is nothing I can do or say that will make what happened disappear." I say quietly into his ear, "And there is nothing I can do or say to stop what is going to happen from happening. But I'm not going to leave your side."_

_He pulls away and looks into my mismatched eyes; his brown eyes glazing over with unshed tears._

_I crack a small smile, "And I will always be here."_

**Chapter 16**

Tony and I jogged down the familiar corridors of SHIELD headquarters. My breathing came out in short, quiet pants as we raced down towards the briefing room.

The doors opened automatically as we approached and we slowed down enough to stop inside.

"What's happening?" I ask the minute I enter. The fear that we were going to march off straight into battle was still at the pit of my stomach and it gripped at my heart like a snake squeezing the life out of its prey.

"We're monitoring all of Earth." Fury replied, "The minute extra terrestrial technology enters Earth's atmosphere, we will know."

My eyes found Thor, standing frozen in the center of the room, with his hand at his chin and brows furrowed.

I made my way over to him and studied his worried face. Thor had seemed like he aged just a bit since the last time we saw each other, but that could just be the stress of having to battle the Chitauri all over again.

"Thor, what do you know?" I ask him, looking into his eyes.

He doesn't move, nor blink, but he continues to stare at one spot on the grey floor.

His jaw tightens and he swallows before speaking.

"Nothing."

His voice is low with dread and anger and a shiver runs down my spine.

"I only know there will be an attack."

My heart drops down from my chest to the floor. The one man who I had hoped would give me all the answers was just as in the dark as we all were.

I swallowed, my mouth suddenly dry.

"Well, what about Loki?" I ask, "Loki knows something. I _know_ he does."

"Loki refuses to speak." The God replies, his tone turning cold.

I shut my eyes tight and I take a deep breath.

I turn to Fury, "Loki will talk to me."

Fury looks taken aback, then gathers himself before speaking, "MacCallister, we are not sending you to Asgard."

"No, you're not." I say, "That isn't necessary. Just put me to sleep, and he'll come and talk to me."

"MacCallister, quit fooling around."

"No, she's right." Tony jumps in, "I hate the thought of using you to talk to one of our enemies, Charlie, but it's the only chance we have."

"What on Earth are you two talking about?" Fury demands.

"Director, Loki visits me in my dreams. He told me about these plans to warn me."

"And how do we know the God of Mischief isn't behind these plans?"

Thor lets out a dry laugh, cutting in with his booming voice, "My brother may have wanted humans to bow down to him in the past, but he is not an idiot. He has been defeated and it would be foolish for him to try the same method of attack twice." He shakes his head, his blond hair falling off his shoulders, "No, this is an enemy far greater than Loki."

"So you're deeming it safe that we allow MacCallister to be used as negotiator then?" Fury asks.

"As safe as it can be."

I bite my tongue, waiting for Fury to give the OK.

Fury sighs, "Alright. Banner is at his lab, make your way to him and ask him to monitor you while you are conversing with Loki."

I nod once, and deciding not to push my luck, walking out the doors with Tony following close behind me.

**XXXXXX**

_The now familiar sight of the sun setting over the horizon greeted me when I opened my eyes._

_Loki was sitting on the bench right across from me and he was studying me._

_"I figured you would want to talk to me." Loki said, not taking his eyes away._

_"I need answers." I replied, "I need to know everything you know about this attack and this great new enemy."_

_Loki hesitated, then he looked away._

_"Isn't the view wonderful?"_

_"Loki, don't you dare try and stall for time." I hissed, "My son is in danger. And I will do anything to keep him from any sort of harm, and this attack is going to be potentially problematic. Now if you know _anything_ that can help us to fight back, now would be a great time to start talking and tell me everything."_

_Loki didn't reply._

_"Loki, please." I said, my voice low and desperate, "I need to keep my son alive. I need to protect him."_

_"The love you have for your son is very admirable." Loki commented._

_I said nothing._

_"Very well, I will tell you what I know." Loki said, finally looking back at me, "On one condition."_

_I felt cold all over, and my mind raced._

_"What condition?"_

_He laughed, "I don't know yet."_

_He paused, and then started to talk again._

_"On Saturn's moon of Titan lived a colony of Eternals, who are, as you probably know, beings who possess greater powers and longer lifespans than the mainstream human race. Thanos was born as one of the last sons of the original colonists, Mentor and Sui-San. Only, he was born misshapen and monstrous in comparison to the other Eternals. Thanos sought out personal power and increased strength, and he endowed himself with cybernetic implants until he became more powerful than any of his brethren." Loki looked back into the sunset, "He was exiled from his community, although the accounts differ as to its cause. Thanos was consumed with the concept of death, and at one point, met Death itself, who took on the form of a female. Thanos was infatuated with Death, and brought it onto himself to become worthy to earn her love. With his army, he nearly destroyed Titan, declaring himself its ruler. Thanos once claimed that he vivisected his own mother in an attempt to investigate how someone consumed with death such as himself could have come into being."_

_Loki looked into my eyes, the rays of the setting sun catching on his hair, making it look a dark brown, "And Thanos is going to attack the Earth in an attempt to win the Tesseract." He sighed and allowed himself to laugh humorlessly, "And, I hate to say it, my dear, but the Avengers probably will not be able to stand its own against such a powerful opponent."_

_My blood ran cold beneath my skin and I could hear my heart pound heavily in my ears._

_"Now, I have thought of the condition." Loki said. His tall frame stood up from the wooden bench and he made his way over to me, kneeling down to look me in the eye and holding one of my hands with both of his._

_"Bring Accalia back."_

_I blinked back my surprise._

_"I can't." I answered, "I've tried for years, Loki, she's gone for good. She isn't coming back."_

_Loki threw his head back and laughed, "That's only because you've been doing it wrong."_

_"What?"_

_"I've seen cases like these before. Both Thor and I have."_

_"Again, what?"_

_"You and Accalia are two separate souls." He said, searching my eyes, "Yes, she gave you the ability to shape shift into a wolf, but that is only because she herself has that ability. She is locked up inside your mind and heart, Charlie, and there is only one way that I know of to bring a werewolf back into someone's consciousness."_

_I waited for him to explain, and he stood to sit next to me._

_"A kiss from the one who locked them up in the first place." He whispered, before crashing his lips onto mine._

My eyes snapped open and I immediately sat up.

"That did not just happen." I muttered.

I ran a hand through my hair and searched my mind for Accalia.

My consciousness felt heavy, as it once used to, and I was desperately hoping it meant that Accalia was back.

I closed my eyes, and took deep calming breaths.

"_Lia?_" I asked, quietly.

I _felt_ a shuffle and I heard a groan.

"_Lia? Are you there?_"

"_Don't speak so loud, Charlie, I'm trying to sleep._"

My jaw dropped.

The asshole brought her back.

**XXXXXX**

**Thank you to Psudonymos, Queen Apolline, ghoullish-reader, whovian13423, lawrencehopefull, Lunar Nightsahde, FabFiction15, TheDoctorHarknessfor following.**

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**Thank you to Xxdreamergirl95xX for reviewing: Thank you! Here's the next chapter, sorry it took so long!**

**Thank you to Calmonix for reviewing: She did disappear, but that will be explained by Loki in the next chapter or two ;)**

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